Of Kunai Throwing and Avada Kedavras
by yayforcookies
Summary: In which Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, Neji and Tenten are whisked into a world of magic and meet up with their bestest buddy in the whole wide world. That bastard. Scrawny-glasses-wearing-kid-protecting and curses (both magical and verbal) galore!
1. Waking Up

**A/N:** Hello all, this is Cookie. Kat finally convinced me to write a Harry Potter/Naruto crossover, so here I am! I actually stole some of her ideas (lol she gave me permission), so _Wizards and Ninja_ can live through this story! Actually, I might not be as good a writer as Kat, but one can try, right? Please show some support!

**Disclaimer:** This applies for every following chapter. Naruto is not mine! Neither is Harry Potter.

Chapter 1  
Waking Up

"Sakura-chan? Oi, Sakura-chan, are you awake?"

Pounding on the door. I groan and bury my face deeper into my pillow, trying to block out all sounds from the outside, also known as Utter Hell.

"Sakura-chan! I know you're in there! Hurry and open the door! It's cold!"

Grumbling, I stand up and obey. A tall blonde boy with tan skin stands there, grinning like an idiot. My best friend, Naruto. I eye him, wondering if it's worth the effort to pound him into the ground so early in the morning. As he lets himself in, I decide that no, it isn't. I sigh and follow him into my living room, where he plops himself onto the couch. Really, he, Sai and Kakashi come over so many times and stay for so long that it's as much their house as mine. "What're you doing here in this ungodly hour of the morning?"

He ruffles my hair. "It's already eleven in the morning, kiddo." He kicks back and places his hands behind his head and I sit down next to him, yawning.

"Is it already?" I ask, blearily peering at the clock. "Wow, time sure passes by fast."

"Not like you to oversleep, Sakura-chan," he admonishes. "And sexy bedhead, by the way."

I scowl, overlooking the jibe about my appearance. I know that I can look pretty bad in the morning, what with crazy, out-of-control pink hair sitting like a haystack on my head and wearing a tank top and shorts, but I'm already used to my boys seeing me like this.

_Well_, I amend, _three of my boys. The other one's barely even looked at me even when he was still in the village_. A pang of sorrow hits me and I hurry to reply, "When you've been working the graveyard shift at the hospital for seven days a week for a month, you can tell me who's oversleeping."

Naruto winces. "You have a point there, Sakura-chan."

"So why're you here?" I stifle another huge yawn and use his well-muscled arm as a pillow. Those years spent training with Jiraiya have really paid off; although he's a few months younger than me, he's much taller. I'm now dwarfed by him, Sai and Kakashi. But that doesn't mean people should underestimate me. After all, I have the ability to crush a mountain with my bare hands.

"I was thinking we should go out to eat some ramen for lunch today," he dimples foxily. "You know, to celebrate."

I raise an eyebrow. "Celebrate what, exactly? Your lack of money?"

"Ouch, you wound me. But yes. Can you pay just one bowl for me please? Otherwise I'll suffer from ramen withdrawal." He pulls a puppy eyes-look on me that doesn't really affect me.

I roll my eyes but get up anyways. "Sure, sure. But one bowl only, and you owe me a favour."

He bounces up giddily. "Thank you, Sakura-chan! I love you!"

I sigh. He says that every other day, but he doesn't mean it: Naruto had gotten over his silly crush on me a while ago. We're like brother and sister. "Stay put, okay? I'm going to change. If I see you peeking I'll bash your face in."

"Alright, I got it. Hurry, hurry!"

-x-

Ramen Ichiraku is sort of empty by the time we get there, but then Naruto plops down on a stool and it seems perfectly fine. Without Naruto, there's just something _missing_.

Teuchi and his daughter Ayame crow greetings at us, happily serving us each a bowl of miso ramen, on the house. I smile at them, appreciating the kind gesture. Of course, Naruto just digs in without much notice. I roll my eyes again and follow his lead in a more ladylike way. In the blink of an eye Naruto is slurping up the last drop of the broth and demanding more. Teuchi just laughs and says he likes seeing men with healthy appetites like Naruto's. Ayame and I share an amused look and I twirl another bit of the delicious noodles into my mouth.

Naruto is on his fifth bowl of ramen and I, on my second, when somebody sidles in beside us. I immediately recognize the chakra signature and look up from my bowl, smiling. "Hinata! What's up?"

Hinata has grown up immensely these past years. Her hair is long, as long as mine used to be, and an inky shade of dark blue. Her body is more womanly, but she prefers to dress comfort over style, and her skills have improved amazingly. She now carries the title of being the Hyuuga heiress proudly. But one habit hasn't change over the years: she still gets tongue-tied whenever Naruto is near her. So when he perks up at her name, mouth stuffed to its maximum capacity with ramen, and attempts to greet her around the food, she becomes an alarming shade of red and stutters for a full minute, giving him time to swallow.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto yells, engulfing the poor girl in a suffocating hug. I pry his arms off of her when I see she is just about ready to faint, frowning as she sways a little on her feet. You'd think she'd gain some confidence after being recognized as Hiashi Hyuuga's heiress, and she did, but she was just hopeless in the love department. Not that I should be talking, though. "What're you doing here?"

"L-l-l-l-looking for you," she manages to gasp.

Before the blonde idiot I call my best friend can smother her with questions, I ask, "Is there something wrong?"

She shakes her head furiously, sending me a thankful glance underneath her (incredibly long) lashes. "No, no, it's not a problem. Tsunade-sama just says she wants to see the three of us in her office as soon as possible."

Naruto punches the air in success. "Alright! I bet it's a mission! I can't wait, I haven't been out in _ages_!" He beams and grabs Hinata's and my hands, totally oblivious to the dark-haired girl's expression of pure bliss. "Come on, you two, let's go!"


	2. Mission

Chapter 2  
Mission

We're standing in front of the Hokage's desk. Tsunade is a really pretty woman with light blonde hair tied in loose pigtails, amber eyes and wears pretty comfy-looking clothing, along with short black heels. She's busty, in her fifties, and is my master. I've been training under her for a good three years now and, once in a blue moon, she tells me she's very proud of me and is sure I'll be able to surpass her.

I bow a full ninety degrees to show her respect. "Tsunade-shishou. You called?"

She smiles at me warmly when I straighten. "Yeah, I did. But you three are a bit early –"

"Early for what, Baa-chan?" exclaims Naruto, bouncing on his heels excitedly. Hinata is standing in the back of the room, trying to calm her racing heart unsuccessfully. "Is it a mission? Tell me it's a mission. I haven't been on a mission for a billion years, so come on, tell me it's a mission, a mission, a mission –!"

A vein pulses at her temple. She slams her hand down on her desk, shutting the blonde boy up, and glares. "If you don't shut up in two seconds, Naruto, I swear I'll decapitate you!"

I snort under my breath. As much as the Godaime likes to threaten castrating Naruto, we all know that she thinks too much of him as her little brother to actually execute the threat. Unless he steals her sake. Then everyone within a mile radius is screwed.

"But Baa-chan," he whines, not heeding her (useless, really) bluff, "I'm _really _curious. Who're we waiting for, anyways?"

"I'd expect you to have more patience after being Kakashi's student for as long as you have," she grumbles, rubbing her temples. "Guess I was wrong."

At that moment, the door opens again and two people greet, "Hokage-sama."

I turn around. Neji and Tenten stand there; the latter sands me a blinding smile while the former nods his acknowledgement. I'm a bit disgruntled, but what can I expect from the great Hyuuga? The fact that he even recognizes my existence proves that I did something worthy of his praise – such as, I don't know, saving his ass multiple times on the battlefield because I'm cool like that. But in all seriousness, I really like the two and am happy to see them, but can't help wondering why they're here.

"Right on time," nods Tsunade, satisfied. She then faces all five of us. "Well, as Naruto has been bitching and moaning about wanting a mission for the past month, I've finally got one for you all."

I raise an eyebrow. "All of us?"

She inclines her head. "I know that five is an odd number to send on a mission, but I believe it's for the best. Kakashi, Sai, Gai and Lee all have their own respective missions to do, so I thought I'd send you guys. It's an A-rank; are you up to it?"

"Of course!" bellows Naruto enthusiastically; the rest of us nod.

She smiles, gratified. "Right. This mission is a bit… peculiar, though."

Tenten cocks her head to the side. "Peculiar, how?"

"Well…" My master stretches out the word, looking uncomfortable. "I don't really know hoe to explain it, so why doesn't your employer do it?"

At that very moment a man appears out of thin air, spinning on his heel. I catch a glimpse of him – old, wizened face, crooked nose, electric blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles and ridiculously long hair and beard the colour of snow – and then there is a kunai in my hand, pressed against his throat.

I'm not the only one who reacted; Neji and Hinata have their Byakugan activated, their hands pulsing with blue chakra, while Tenten and Naruto, like me, have kunai in their hands, ready to strike.

"State your name and business," hisses Neji, looking absolutely terrifying with all those veins around his pale eyes.

"Calm down, all of you," Tsunade yelps. She jumps in front of the man; I stare at her confusedly and she pushes my hand down. "This is your employer."

For a full moment there's silence in the room. And then Naruto snorts. "You're saying this old man is the one paying for an A-rank?"

The "old man" smiles beatifically. "Yes, that's right." His Japanese is barely accented, I note with a slight hint of surprise. I back down, noticing Tenten doing the same, and observe him closely.

The man is tall and thin, but something tells me he isn't as weak as he looks. His face is kind and his eyes show that he's intelligent and calm, slightly amused by our overreaction. He's wearing the strangest attire I've ever seen: robes a lurid shade of royal purple, pointed, venomously green scaly shoes and a long auburn cloak that trails on the floor. His white hair is wiry, his beard tied neatly at the end by a thin string. In his hands is… a stick.

Something is really off about this man. I stare at Tsunade, trying to gouge her reaction. Just what could he want with us? He clearly wasn't even from our country.

He smiles again. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Naruto frowns. "… Dum-bur-ru-do? Dumbledo?"

"Yes, that's close enough. As I said, I'm the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

At this Hinata reacts. "Witchcraft? And wizardry?" Her face is sceptical as she turns to the Godaime. "Tsunade-sama, are you sure he's not delusional?"

"I feel quite sane at the moment, thank you very much," Dumbledore replies, "although some may say I have a few screws loose. But that is beside the point."

Naruto crosses his arms defiantly. "I am definitely not getting involved with a crazy guy, Baa-chan. Seriously, this is A-rank? I mean, wizards don't even exist!" I silently agree, still believing that the guy's a phony.

"Neither, according to some, do ninjas," shoots back Dumbledore. Naruto narrows his eyes and opens his mouth to protest, but he continues smoothly, "Wizards and witches and ninja are quite closely related, if you think about it. We both use a special form of chakra. You channel it through your hands by seals. By performing the right combination, you are able to release large amounts of the chakra that resides within you. This, of course, exhausts you both mentally and physically, but can be either highly destructive or helpful, depending on the way you use it.

"As for us, we use the chakra that we find around us. Yes," he nods, eyes glittering, "there is chakra all around us. Many, many years ago, a certain someone found a way to concentrate certain amounts of it into something we call a _wand_." He twitches the stick and I eye it warily. "To free the amount of energy in it, we must say an incantation. However, the power is less concentrated, as we were never meant to direct nature's chakra for our own uses. Ergo, our magic is less powerful than your jutsus, but still effective. We also do not tire our bodies as fast as you do."

I have to admit, his words have a ring of truth to it. I'm starting to believe him.

But of course Naruto just _has_ to go challenge Dumbledore, "Prove it."

"Gladly." He points the stick – wand – whatever – at him and a flock of birds erupt from the tip. Naruto yelps in shock and jumps back; the five of us watch in utter amazement as the birds flit around and then zoom out the window, chirping cheerily. "Do you believe me now?" We nod furiously and he smiles. "Good. Would you listen to the explanation of the mission, then?" When none of us interrupts, he takes it as a cue to continue.

"You see, in our world, there's a… very bad wizard, who goes by the name of Voldemort. He influenced us so much that today his very name is taboo. He spread terror everywhere, raising the dead and using their bodies to make his own personal army." We wince at that, glancing at each other uncomfortably, but Dumbledore continues serenely, "Then, fifteen years ago, he was stopped."

"By who?" I ask in a hushed whisper.

He gazes at me with those electrifying blue eyes of his. "By a mere baby. His name is Harry Potter." He hands me a picture and the others gather around to see what this legendary boy looks like. He's nothing special, really, untidy black hair and emerald green eyes. There's a lightning shaped scar on his forehead. I trace it over lightly. "Yes, that's where the Killing Curse hit. For some reason, the Dark Lord disappeared after killing the boy's parents." We hiss is sympathy.

"Today Harry Potter is a hero, but he's still in danger. Voldemort's followers, the Death Eaters, are still at large. And last year, something horrible happened." His eyes close briefly, as if remembering something highly disturbing. "Voldemort was reborn."

"Didn't you say he died?" demands Neji.

Dumbledore shakes his head sadly. "Unfortunately, Voldemort can_not _be killed. He is essentially immortal until all of _those _are found and destroyed."

"All of what?"

"That is not of your concern, don't worry about it. Your mission is to protect Harry at all costs for a full year at his school."

"If he's so important, why doesn't he have his own guards?"

"Harry's still a child. I want him to live life as normally as he can. Besides, this year, he will be facing a lot of difficulties. People are in denial, saying that the Dark Lord did not return and Harry is delusional. But it is in fact true. If Harry dies we are all in grave peril." His blue eyes pierce through all of us. "_You _are in danger as well. Voldemort will leave nothing in his path."

"Doesn't that sound curiously like the Akatsuki," grumbles Naruto under his breath, but he's clearly worried. "But how are we going to do this? I mean, we don't even know where the school is and what language you speak…"

"That's easily fixed," assures Dumbledore. "Hogwarts is hidden somewhere in England, and these little tokens will help you understand, speak and read our language fluently." He holds out five necklaces, each with the same design: a golden phoenix, with widespread wings. "They have a spell on them that won't wear off until the year ends."

"What I don't get," Tenten says as she slips her necklace on, "is why you're seeking us out for help. From what I understand, you care about Harry a lot."

For a moment Dumbledore's face is sorrowful. "I feel… that this year, Harry is better off without me. He has the Order of the Phoenix on his side."

"Order of the Phoenix?" echoes Hinata.

"Yes. As the name states, it is an organisation of courageous wizards and witches who have been affected by Lord Voldemort in some way and are intent on bringing him down. Sirius, Harry's godfather and only remaining 'family', is part of it."

"That sounds a bit dangerous…" Naruto's teeth flash brightly. He places his hand out. "I'm in!"

"M-me too," stammers Hinata. She shyly puts her hand on top of his.

I nod. "I'm not letting two of my best friends go without me." I grin when Naruto drags my hand on top of the pile.

Neji and Tenten make sounds of agreement as well and they complete the stack. Dumbledore looks on with a fatherly smile. He turns to Tsunade and says, "I'll be back within the hour." She nods her approval and he disappears as abruptly as he'd arrived.

"I'm glad you five took it rather professionally," Tsunade says. "Don't screw this up, got it? You have exactly one hour to pack up and say your goodbyes. Excused."

We nod and bow one last time, then split up our separate ways to prepare.


	3. Diagon Alley

Chapter 3  
Diagon Alley

"What should a ninja bring to country that's wholly different to her own?" I mutter as I stare at my bed. I've laid out all of the weapons I own in front of me, senbons, kunai and shuriken galore organized according to size. Then, on the very edge, there's my tanto. It's a simple affair, deceptively thin and small and delicate-looking, but the hilt is decorated with a small cherry blossom made of pink tourmaline and moonstones, given to me by Naruto, Sai and Kakashi for my fifteenth birthday. Although that had only been a few months ago, whenever I wield the tanto it feels like an extension to my arm. It just feels _so right _holding it, and it brings me a sense of peace and being protected. It's as if my teammates had put parts of themselves into it, little things that would protect me when I need them the most.

My fingers brush over the hilt, pausing over the gemstones. They've never told me how much it was worth, but to me, it means the world. I take it and place it on my back. Then I return to scrutinizing my array of tools.

First things first, I'd always need my medical pouch. Although Hinata's a pretty good healer, I'm definitely more skilled than her – not to brag or anything, but I _have _trained under Tsunade. Three years of hellish training has at least earned me the right to boast, right? I grab it and look inside. There are empty capsules to hold poisons and antidotes, bandages and other various medical tools needed. I nod an approval to myself and attach it to my backside, its weight comforting.

Scrolls, kunai, shuriken – even a few senbon, after a moment consideration – I throw all of it in my bag. In the end, there's nothing left on my bed, but my pouch is pretty darn heavy. I sigh. "Better safe than sorry, I guess."

A quick look at the clock tells me that I still have another twenty minutes before I'm due back to the Hokage's tower, so I decide to take a walk and maybe meet up with my closest friends. I let my feet carry me forward, wondering just how the heck I was going to survive a year away from home and in an environment I know nothing about. The "magical" part of this mission is seriously starting to worry me, but it's strangely exciting at the same time. I can only hope that I won't be torn apart by all of the spells and curses that are bound to be coming my way.

I look up and grin, recognizing the store in front of me. Pushing the door open, a cheery "Welcome!" and the tinkle of bells greet me. My smile widens when I see my best-friend-slash-worst-enemy there, in an apron and her hair tied up in a long ponytail. "Hey, Pig."

"Forehead!" Ino hurries to meet me, engulfing me in a huge hug. "What's up?"  
"Not much, you?"

She scowls. "The store isn't that busy today, so mom and dad decided to go on a _date_." She rolls her eyes, shuddering at the thought of her parents being all romantic with each other, but her face is soft and I can tell she's hoping that one day she'll have a husband that will take care of her as much as her dad does her mom. It's sweet, really. "Well, it's not as if I have anything to do today, so I decided to be nice and let them go for a bit."

I laugh. "I'd rather not have anything to do, truth be told."

Her eyebrows shoot up. "You want nothing to do? Are you crazy?"

"Well, since I was working hectic schedules at the hospital for a month…"

"You have a point there." She cocks her head to the side. "But does that mean you have a mission?"

A grimace graces my features. "Yeah, a year-long one far away from home."

"No way! Forehead, you're _so _lucky! What is it?"

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." When she shoves me lightly, I grudgingly admit, "It's to protect a wizard boy." She stares at me for a full moment, frozen. Then she bursts out into gut-splitting laughter. I wait until she catches her breath and say, "I'm serious."

She snorts herself into silence. "Forehead, you and me both know that wizards do _not _exist."

"Neither do ninja," I reply, remembering Dumbledore's words.

"What are you talking about?" she frowns. "We're standing right here; _clearly _we exist."

"No, I mean, don't you know how some civilians don't know that ninjas exist? It's the same thing with wizards, they're just a _lot _more secretive." I take out the phoenix necklace to show her. "See, this is proof. Me, Naruto, Hinata, Tenten and Neji are going to pose as students for the next year at a school in England, and this has a spell on it so we can understand their language. I didn't really believe the guy when he told us, but then he made a flock of birds erupt from the tip of his wand, and, well," I chuckle, "it was a you-had-to-be-there moment."

She prods the necklace warily with her finger. "It's true that there's some chakra running through it," she murmurs almost to herself, "but it feels _weird_. Different."

I nod. "The guy – Dumbledore – says that wizards use nature's chakra, so it's obviously going to feel different for us."

She sighs enviously. "I wish I could go with you. I've been stuck inside the village for too long, and this mission seems pretty interesting."

"I told you I'd rather go home and sleep away. But I already accepted it."

"So you came to say bye-bye to your best friend?" Her voice is flippant, but there's an undertone of worry. No matter what we say, Ino and I are really the best of friends and we care for each other like sisters.

"Yeah, I guess," I grin, the lean over and give her a tight hug. "I'll miss you, Pig."

"Me too, Forehead." She squeezes my shoulders. "You better write to me."

"If I can." I give her one last pat on the back. "I got to go now, so I'll contact you ASAP. Tell Kakashi-sensei and Sai I say hi when they get back from their mission."

"Alright."

I wave and make my way to the Hokage Tower. As expected, I'm the last to arrive, but I'm exactly on time. The others greet me with smiles and nods. As I take my place next to Naruto, the air twists again and Dumbledore appears. I wince; I'm never going to get used to how he moves around.

He beams at us all. "You're here? Great."

"You're going to go buy some things you'll need to blend in for the mission," Tsunade informs us. "After all, you can't go in dressed as you are."

I look down. I'm wearing my usual sleeveless red shirt, black shorts and medic apron. There isn't anything wrong with the way I look, I think. But Dumbledore says, "You'll stick out a sore thumb."

And then Tsunade does the unthinkable. "Take of your forehead protectors."

There's a shocked silence in the room, and then the five of us explode, "_What?_"

She sighs. "They're too conspicuous. Some people are going to know exactly what you are with one glance."

"But –" Naruto whispers through tight lips, "but this… not our forehead protectors! They're the sign of our loyalty!"

"Tsunade-sama has a point," Hinata murmurs. She slowly reaches up and unties her headband from her neck. For a brief moment she caresses it, then stuffs it in her pack. I bite my lip and follow her lead. My head feels so… empty without it. Tenten and Naruto remove theirs as well, expressions belligerent. Only Neji stands there, looking defiant.

Tsunade raises an eyebrow. "Neji?"

He doesn't speak for a long moment. "I – I can't."

Her face creases in confusion, and then clears as she understands. "Ah. The Hyuuga Seal." She digs in her desk for a moment, producing a black strip of cloth that she tosses at him. He ties it over his protector, looking relieved. She continues, "As soon as you get on the train to Hogwarts, you'll have to change. You've all memorized Harry's features?" We nod. "Good. You know what to do. Neji, since you're the only jonin of the group, I trust you to lead them well." He bows his head. She gazes at each of us for a moment; her eyes are worried but confident. "You'll be successful. I know it."

Dumbledore puts out his hand. When none of us move, he sighs. "I'll be Apparating us into London. Please hold my hand." We do, and then there's a jerk around my navel. Tsunade looks at us again and I can see her lips form the words, "Good luck, stay safe".

And then everything goes black.

-x-

It feels like my breath is being squeezed out of me, and I start panicking. But then the sensation is gone and all six of us are standing in front of a little, nondescript building that looks pretty gloomy. I look around, but no one seems to have noticed our little group appearing out of the middle of nowhere; in fact, none of them even glances our way. We're insignificant in this hectic place.

Dumbledore walks towards the little building and I can just make out the sign that says "The Leaky Cauldron". The rest of us follow him, casting cautious looks around us; I can tell that they, like me, are still a bit shaken by the violent way of transport. Effective, but highly uncomfortable.

Dumbledore leads us through the gloomy pub and takes us out the backdoor. There's a brick wall stopping our progress; he taps a block with his wand and it immediately melts away, revealing the most amazing sight I've ever seen.

The area is bustling with people wearing long robes like Dumbledore's, running anywhere and everywhere. Unlike the others outside the pub, they're glancing at us weirdly, and then I realize it's because of our clothes (and probably my hair). Dumbledore's right, we really _do _stick out like sore thumbs with our bright ninja clothing in this sea of black. I shift my foot side to side, slightly self-conscious. Hinata, Tenten and Neji seem to feel it too, but Naruto's beyond noticing.

"Whoa, Sakura-chan! Look at that! That's a _flying broom_!" He points out everything he thinks is interesting and pretty soon after that people are giving us wide berths, clearly scared out the boisterous blond ninja.

Dumbledore smiles indulgently, bringing us to a store called Flourish and Blotts. There are billions of interesting looking books there and as he quietly converses with the owner, we each go our own way to explore it. Neji in particular seems interested in the books about divination. When the Headmaster stands up, he gestures to the five bags in front of him, each containing a small mountain of books. I shoot covert glances around us, making sure no one is watching us, and take out a scroll. One hand gesture later, the bags are sealed within the scroll, meaning that we could walk around without having to lug everything around.

Dumbledore seems to approve. "Practical."

Our next stop is Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Madam Malkin is a short, slightly tubby old lady with a sweet smile who ushers us in with a bright smile. "Hogwarts?" asks. We nod and she waves her wand; five tape measurers fly into the air and immediately start measuring us. It's slightly unnerving and highly fascinating. Within minutes our robes are ready. And then she kicks the guys out the store after handing them a package each, telling them to stay out for a moment with Dumbledore.

She turns on us, a fanatical glint in her eye. I tense – is she going to attack us? – and am prepared to whip my tanto out of my bag when she suddenly produces a huge board of materials out of thin air. Every colour imaginable is there and she demands, "Choose one!"

Tenten frowns. "Why?"

Madam Malkin winks, a coquettish smile in place. "You'll find out soon enough. Come on then."

Tenten steps forward first. She hesitantly brushes over the soft material, then stops on a pale lilac – the exact colour of Neji's eyes, I note with amusement. Madam Malkin approves of her choice and whisks the material away. She then turns to Hinata.

Hinata has a bit more trouble deciding, but finally settles on a beautiful shade of sky blue that compliments her hair and pale skin amazingly. She blushes as she fingers the cool material.

Knowing that it was my turn next, I stare at the board and pick up a deep burgundy colour. For some reason, it stands out so much more for me than the other colours, and I hand it to Madam Malkin, smiling lightly.

Madam Malkin takes the three rolls of material and tells us to stand on the stool; we obey her, still wondering what was going on. She drapes our chosen colours over us and I realize – she's making us _dresses_. Being a ninja I never really had time for dresses, so I'm pleasantly surprised.

The owner seems to know what suits us best. For Tenten, she made very thin straps and stopped it just above her knees. Her dress is slightly ruffled at the bottom, backless, and the cut is low, but not skanky. It displays Tenten's natural beauty and grace of movement to a tee. I can practically see my friend glow with happiness as she thanks Madam Malkin.

Hinata's dress is pretty safe. It sweeps the floor and is strapless, but Madam Malkin adds in a gauzy pale blue shawl so Hinata doesn't feel so bare. When Hinata wears it I really get the feeling that she's meant to be an heiress, as beautiful and elegant and graceful as she is. It's a shame Naruto's such an idiot – he's letting an amazing girl pine after him without knowing it. I really hope he'll wake up one day and return her feelings.

Mine isn't as daring as Tenten's or as conservative as Hinata's. It's somewhere in the middle. Its hem is cut the high-low way, sleeveless and strapless, so my collarbones stand out. I was a bit iffy about it, but to my delight when I put it on it suited my body perfectly, hugging all my curves in the right way.

We thank Madam Malkin from the bottom of our hearts as we leave, but she waves us off with a bright smile. "I'm happy to be of any assistance!" she grins.

Our boys are waiting outside with a pretty grumpy expression, but Dumbledore seems to be enjoying himself immensely. "What took you so long?" Naruto grouses.

"Secret!" I laugh. "Where to next?"

Dumbledore leads us to a decaying shop. I can just make out the sign that says "Ollivanders Wand Shop, makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C."; a tinkling bell announces our presence. At first it seems empty, but then a little man with white eyes pops up. "How do you do?"

We blink. He doesn't give us time to answer and continues, "You all seem to be older than eleven. Why are you in need of a wand? Have you all broken yours?"

Dumbledore answered for us. "They're exchange students, Mr. Ollivander."

Ollivander looks at the other man with shrewd eyes. "Of course, of course," he mutters. He turns suddenly to face Naruto. "You. What's your wand arm?"

The boy blinks in confusion. "What?"

"What arm do you write with?"

Hesitantly Naruto holds up his right hand. A tape measure attacks him suddenly measuring everything, from the length of his fingers to how far apart his eyes are. Ollivander darts away, muttering to himself, and returns later with a long, thin box. He opens it and hands the wand to the blonde. "Elm and unicorn hair. Ten inches. Springy. Wave it around, go on." He does, and the light blows up.

Neji, Tenten, Hinata and I duck for cover, glaring at the kitsune. He grins sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

"No matter." Ollivander snatches the wand back and replaces it with another. "Oak and phoenix feather. Six inches. Stiff." All of the wand boxes zoom from their respective cubbies. "Maple and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Pliable."

I duck down, expecting another disaster of epic proportions to happen; instead, a nice glow surrounds Naruto and he grins. "This feels nice," is all he says.

Ollivander nods his approval and turns to Hinata, restarting the process all over again. It takes an hour to pass all of us, but he doesn't seem to mind. In fact, he looks like he's enjoying the challenge to find the right wand for each of us. In the end, Neji ends up with a springy eleven-inch cedar and unicorn hair wand; Tenten, with an unbending ten-inch walnut and phoenix feather one; Hinata, with a supple seven-inch rosewood and dragon heartstring one, and I with a flexible cherry and phoenix feather one. Whenever I pick it up my fingers tingle, but it doesn't feel bad. I actually like the feeling.

Dumbledore looks satisfied as he leads us out of the shop. He gazes at us with fatherly eyes and hands us each a little envelope. "These hold your tickets for the train. King's Cross Station, platform 9 ¾, It leaves at precisely eleven o'clock on September first, so make sure you get there on time. I've booked rooms for you in the Leaky Cauldron, so you can stay there until the time comes." He nods in farewell, twists and disappears.

It takes a while for what he said to sink in. Hinata breaks the silence first. "Platform… 9 ¾?"

I turn and promptly bash my head against a wall, attracting weirded-out stares. "That old coot… platform 9 ¾ doesn't even exist! What are we going to do?"


	4. The Platform and the Hogwarts Express

Chapter 4  
The Platform and the Hogwarts Express

I lay down on the dusty bed of the room I'm sharing with Tenten and Hinata in the Leaky Cauldron, glaring at the ceiling. Naruto and Neji are in the room across from us, probably talking about the mission, but I'm still brooding over the stupid platform 9 ¾.

Now, I may not know a lot about trains since I'm a ninja, but seriously? It's common knowledge that train platforms don't usually end with ¾. I growl and throw my pillow across the room, which Tenten catches as she emerges from the bathroom. She raises and eyebrow. "Frustrated?"

"How are supposed to start a mission if we don't know how to get to the destination?" I huff, irritated.

"Technically, we've already started. We'll figure out the rest when the time comes." Tenten's the optimistic, live-in-the-moment-for-the-moment type of girl. Normally I'd appreciate her cheeriness, but the prospect of not being able to go home for a year and living in an unknown environment that involves things I'm uncomfortable with leaves me on edge.

"I've been thinking," comes Hinata's quiet voice as she sits up from her lying position on the couch, "maybe, since it's a magic thing… maybe there's something _between _platforms nine and ten?"

I purse my lips; it seems unlikely, but it's the only lead we have. After all, we can't really expect anything when it comes to magic. "We'll see. When's September first? I haven't really been keeping track of the time."

The other two are quiet, and I can see in their eyes that they too don't know the date. Then Tenten's eyes light up. "Well, my team's four-year anniversary's on the twenty-ninth of August, and that was two days ago. There're thirty-one days in August, so we're the thirty-first. Which means…"

"Tomorrow is the first of September?" I shriek it and Hinata says it in a more ladylike manner, but we're both clearly surprised. Why hadn't Dumbledore just told us we'd start our mission the next day? It would have been much clearer in our minds. Besides, we don't exactly know how to get to King's Cross Station. I leap off the bed and tell them, "I'm going to alert Naruto and Neji."

I find the boys lying on their own beds, both facing different walls. I clear my throat and they jump up, looking alert and tense. "You know what day it is tomorrow?"

Naruto's brow creases in confusion. "The thirty-first?"

"No…"

"The first!" hisses Neji, slapping a hand to his forehead. He then throws a pillow at Naruto. "Idiot, go to sleep, we have to leave early tomorrow morning to get to the station."

"Ow, ow, I got it! No need to keep hitting me," he grumbles and then smiles at me. "'Night, Sakura-chan."

"'Night, Naruto. You too, Neji."

I hear a vague response from the white-eyed boy; shaking my head, I slip out of their room, closing their light and door for them.

-x-

The next morning the five of us meet up in front of the Leaky Cauldron, where Tom greets us with a gruff, "Hear you've got a problem getting to the station."

Neji glances at him. "How did you know?"

"Dumbledore. Said you five were exchange students and don't know your way around London." He hands us a piece of paper; instructions are scrawled across it in a horrible but still legible writing. "You'll be able to get there within ten minutes if you follow this."

We smirk at each other as Tom shuffles away into his pub. Ten minutes? Make that two.

Two minutes and one second later, we reach the train station, which is already bustling with life. I glance at the clock: we still have fifteen minutes before the train leaves. The more pressing problem is how to get onto the platform; after all, there's not platform 9 ¾ in front, in back or between nine and ten. I start having doubts about the validity of the mission, but then a vivid memory of flocking birds comes into my mind and those doubts are gone.

At that point Hinata tugs on my shirt; she points discreetly at a family of four looking shiftily around them. They start running directly at the space between the two platforms; just before they collide, a gaggle of passengers passes in front of our eyes. When they're finally gone, the family had disappeared.

The five of us share a surprised look and gather where we'd seen the family. What Hinata had said last night flashes in my mind – _maybe there's something _between_ platforms nine and ten _– and it clicks. I grin at her and straighten up, stretching. Everyone except for the female Hyuuga look at me as if I've become crazy, but I take Naruto and Hinata's hands and simply lean on the pillar behind me. I feel no resistance, which means I've hit the jackpot. Two seconds later Neji and Tenten appear, eyes wide in shock.

There's a scarlet monster of a train fuming between the rails. Students and their families are talking to their friends, some people are already boarding, others are wearing their school robes. Once again we Konoha ninjas stick out with our bright clothing and I regret not bringing my cloak with me. Although it's white, it would still be less noticeable than my red attire.

We slip behind everyone and find a little niche where we can change into our school clothes. Hinata and Neji cast a small invisibility jutsu as I take out the scroll from my pack and summon everything. Out pop our outfits, all neatly folded; as the boys turn away, Hinata, Tenten and I pull on our dress shirts and skirts hastily, followed by our robes. I notice with satisfaction that, although it's large, my pouch is completely covered by the billowing waves of the black affair. Our sandals disappear, replaced by uncomfortable dress shoes. Sighing, I sealed our things back into the scroll and say that the invisibility jutsu could be released.

Now that we blend in with the students more naturally, it's easier to move around. However, because of my pink hair, students keep glancing at me over their shoulders. I sigh, "Maybe I should do a light transformation. Change the colour of my hair."

Neji shakes his head. "I know that it doesn't take a lot of chakra, but we don't know if it's safe. Just keep it like that." I nod my acceptance. He continues, "We should get on the train now. After all, we need to find Harry, and since we don't have a professional sensor – it could take a while. Tenten and I'll take the north side of the train, you three take south. Signal when you've found him, and do _not _leave his side unless absolutely necessary, do you understand?"

Naruto, Hinata and I nod. He and Tenten melt into the crowd – I'm _so _going to tease her about it later – and within seconds they're gone. I look at my two teammates. "So. South side."

"Man, it's going to take forever to find that kid with all these people around us," Naruto whines, but his eyes are alight at the prospect of a challenge.

"Not really," I grin. We hop onto the train. "Hinata? Can you do a light Byakugan, please?" She smiles and activates her all-seeing eye, the veins barely visible. Not a minute later she murmurs, "He's on the right side of the train, talking to three others. Wait, two of them just left. He and the other person… they're making their way to the last compartment, where two others are waiting." Her eyes relax.

I smirk, quickly making my chakra flare to notify Neji and Tenten. "Let's get the hell over there then."

As we pass by other compartments, I start hearing little bits of conversation that perks my interest. I frown and concentrate.

"Harry Potter says You-Know-Who is back. Do you believe him?"

"Are you kidding? He's a nutcase."

"But even Dumbledore –"

"Dumbledore's not exactly the sanest person, you know!"

"But Cedric Diggory…"

"I bet Potter killed Diggory so he could win the Triwizard Tournament. After all, one thousand galleons!"

I close my eyes, my fists clenching in my pocket. What these students insinuate – saying that Harry's the type to kill off someone just for his own benefits – disgusts me. I could bet all my money and my tanto that these idiots never faced a day of battle in their lives; otherwise they wouldn't say something like that. Naruto rubs comforting circles into my back, knowing that I want nothing more than to burst into their compartment and rip their heads off. But we have a mission to do.

We reach the compartment and open the door just in time for us to hear someone saying, "_Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure_" in a singsong voice. The four of them look up at us and I take that brief second to analyze all of their features.

There are two guys and two girls. The first girl looks a bit… strange; she has long dirty blonde hair and slightly bulgy eyes and she's reading a magazine – upside down. The second also has long hair, but it's a bright fiery red, and her eyes are chocolate brown. She's quite pretty, I note. One of the guys has a round face and a mop of black hair on his head and he's holding a plant that sort of looks like cactus, but with protruding boils in one hand; the other is tightly gripped around a gloomy-looking toad. He seems kind, but forgetful.

The last boy is our charge. Harry's hair looks untidier than it does in pictures and his eyes, hidden behind round glasses, really are a pretty shade of green – not as vibrant as mine, but still attractive. My eyes rake his forehead, where the lightning-shaped scar is partially hidden by his bangs. The first thought that passes my mind is _scrawny_. This kid, at least compared to my boys, is undeniably _scrawny_. He doesn't have Naruto's buff chest, or Sai's amazing six-pack, or Kakashi's toned biceps. It's sort of a letdown.

(I've seen my boys half-naked before, okay? I've seen billions of men _completely _naked, being a medic-nin and all. Then again, Naruto trains and sweats a lot, so he takes off his shirt most of the time; Sai's outfit doesn't really leave much to the imagination, since you can see his tummy all the time, and as for Kakashi… well, let's just say I like to take naps on that man. He's like my father-figure.)

But I guess I can't really expect too much of a kid who uses a stick to fight. I bet none of them have much endurance. I smile lightly. "Hi, I was just wondering, can my friends and I sit with you? Since everywhere else is full…"

Harry blinks and nods. "Sure, make yourselves comfortable."

Naruto, Hinata and I squeeze in next to Neville, while the two other girls sit with Harry. The blonde grins widely. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet you!"

"I – I'm Hinata Hyuuga," the black-haired girl fidgets.

"And I'm Sakura Haruno," I finish. "We're exchange students from Japan."

His eyes widen. "We've never had exchange students before."

"It's a new program," Naruto replies vaguely. He grins. "So, who're you?"

For a moment a look of pure surprise flits in Harry and his companions' eyes, then they compose themselves. "I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

"Ginny Weasley," chirps the redhead brightly.

The blonde surveys us with her bulging eyes. "Luna Lovegood."

"My name's Neville Longbottom," the last squeaks, slightly squashed between the door and Naruto.

The blonde ninja grins at them. "Nice to meet you! Hopefully we'll be good friends in the future."

The seven of us ride companionably for a good ten minutes. I found that, although Luna seemed to be a bit loopy, she's still highly perceptive and interesting to talk to. Ginny's sweet and has a pretty short temper, like me – I have a feeling that we'll get along well. Neville's shy, but eager to add his own bits to the conversation. And Harry's pretty down-to-earth, something I didn't expect.

At one point in the ride I lean over and point at the cactus with boils that Neville's holding. "What's that?"

He seems delighted that I asked. "It's a birthday present. _Mimbulus mimbletonia_." He puffs his chest out proudly. "It's really, really rare. I don't know if there's one in the greenhouse at Hogwarts, even. I can't to show it to Professor Sprout. My Great Uncle Algie got it for me in Assyria. I'm going to see if I can breed from it."

I observe it closely. It looks like it's pulsing slightly. "Does it do anything?" It might be useful for us medic-nins, after all.

"Loads of stuff! It's got an amazing defensive mechanism. Here," he says to Harry, "hold Trevor for me…" As we watch interestedly, he takes a feather-shaped pen and prods the cactus sharply.

I guessed what would happen before it did, so I throw up my arm to protect my face. Hinata and Ginny figured it out too, se we were only splattered a bit by the plant. Luna's magazine save her. On the other hand, Neville, Harry, and Naruto were not as lucky: they're covered in stinky dark green liquid.

"Sorry!" moans Neville. "I haven't tried that before… didn't realise that it would be quite so… don't worry, though, Stinksap's not poisonous." Harry spits out a mouthful.

The door slides open and a very pretty Asian girl looks on, looking nervous. "Oh… hello, Harry. Um, bad time?"

"Oh…" Harry seems at a loss for words. "Hi."

"Um, well… just thought I'd say hello… bye then." The girl closes the door, very pink in the face. Harry groans.

"Never mind. Look, we can easily get out of all this." Ginny waves her wand. "_Scourgify!_" The sap disappears, but not before I take a small sample of it off of Naruto's hair.

"Sorry," mumbles Neville again.

There's an awkward silence, and then Naruto asks, "Have you eaten ramen before?"

The English stare at him with wide, uncomprehending eyes. "Ramen?"

That one word question immediately makes him launch into a long and descriptive monologue about the history and deliciousness of ramen. Hinata and I share an eye roll, having heard it about a million times before, but the four others are listening raptly, looking hungry. They way Naruto describes ramen is just a bit too mouth-watering.

About an hour later, Hinata nudges me, gazing at me with meaningful eyes. I understand and send out a small chakra net; two people were approaching us at a fast pace. I stand up, interrupting Harry mid-sentence, and smile apologetically. "Sorry, we forgot we had to meet with a few teachers."

They crow their farewells and we leave the compartment just in time to avoid the two people; I glance back and memorise their features. One's a girl with ridiculously bushy brown hair, studious looking, while the other's a gangly guy that has a head of red like Ginny's. As we walk away they stare after us curiously, but settle in Harry's compartment.

Neji and Tenten aren't hard to find. They're way at the front of the train, having kicked out a group of little kids, and are waiting our return. As we make our way there, students glance at us curiously. For some reason something tugs at me, something that says I'm missing something important. We walk past a compartment and I feel a burst of chakra – a burst of chakra that is familiar, but I can't really put my finger on it – but when I glance to my side there's no one. It must be the nerves.

Neji and Tenten immediately demand a detailed explanation of what had happened, of Harry and of his friends. They want to know every detail so that they can formulate the most effective plan possible. Naruto and Hinata do most of the talking and I add bits and pieces of my own information, but I keep the chakra-incident to myself. It's not fair to add more strain to Neji, who's doing his best to keep us safe and make us succeed. I notice how his eyes flicker to Tenten every now and then, worry in the white depths, but she's much too concentrated to notice. My heart softens and I smile, hoping that through this mission the two will be able to reveal their true feelings for each other.

Another half hour of strategizing passes by; the sky is already dark when someone announces that we've almost arrived at Hogwarts. The five of us share a look and, as one, we put our fists in the middle, stacked neatly above the other.

"For Konoha," Neji murmurs.

"For Konoha," we echo. And then we slide open the compartment door.


	5. Meeting You Again

Chapter 5  
Meeting You Again

It's raining heavily when we step off the train. I'd hoped to get a glance of the castle, but it's dark and I can't really see anything because all those drops of water are getting caught on my eyelashes. I blink furiously and sigh. "So how do we get there?"

Neji just shrugs and starts following the horde of students. The rest of us fall behind him and eventually we reach a place where carriages wait for us. Something catches my eye immediately: the horses pulling the carriages.

Except they're _not _horses. At least, not the horses I know. They look like dead animals, all black and bones and reptilian white eyes glittering darkly, set in a dragon-like face. They have wings – big, bat-like wings. Whatever they are, they're pretty scary. At first I'm wary of them, but when we approach one of the creatures looks up, snorts softly at us and nudges Hinata. She stiffens, but pats it on the head gently. When she looks up she's smiling, and I start thinking maybe they're not as mean as they look.

The five of us clamber onto a ride, attracting weird looks from students. As we're being pulled away my sensitive ears hear, "Who're they? And why're they pretending something's pulling the carriages?"

I stare at my companions, who seem just as confused as me. I glance at the horses-that-aren't-horses again: they're steadily bringing us forward, but no one seems to see them… except for us. A suspicion lurks at the back of my mind: these beasts look like they represent death, so is it possible that only those who've lived death could see them? It would explain a lot more than it doesn't. I really can't expect too much from wizards.

These thoughts are banished from my mind as the castle comes into sight. It's gloomily beautiful, with dark turrets reaching for the sky and insanely massive, select windows blazing with orangey fire. It's really a sight to behold and I find myself holding my breath as we step off and towards the huge oak doors.

Inside is even more impressive. It's made of stone, I think, and our footsteps echo as we follow the other students. Candles float midair without any form of support; on the walls, the paintings seem to be _moving_. People drawn in them are going from frame to frame, greeting each other jovially and probably sharing some Illegal Substance with each other, considering the fact they're not-so-subtly passing around an opaque bottle. There's just so much to look at that I forget that I'm supposed to watch where I'm going, so it's not really a surprise when I find myself bumping against someone.

"Sorry," I apologise immediately, backing up.

"It's quite alright." I look up; it's an oldish woman with her grey hair tied into a tight bun, wearing a pointed hat. She looks pretty strict and I get the feeling that maybe we shouldn't get on her bad side. "I'm Professor McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore told me to come get you. Follow me, please."

We ninja share a slightly startled look, then do as she tells us. As we're lead out the hallway we came in from, I glance to the side and see a sallow-looking teacher with greasy, lanky pushing a few other students into another room. It bothers me slightly, but I notice that I'm lagging behind the others, so I pick up my pace.

McGonagall leads us into an empty classroom. I sense a presence and whip around just in time to see something transparent already halfway through the wall – the wall, not the door. I stare after it open-mouthed.

"That's just the Fat Friar," she shrugs as if it's normal for things to be passing through walls in this school. Actually, maybe it is… "He's a ghost. Anyways, that's not the point – Dumbledore wants you five to know that you'll be sorted." Seeing our confused looks, she continues, "Hogwarts, as I'm sure you've noticed, has four different houses: Gryffindor, which I am the Head of, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." I nod, vaguely remembering the different coloured ties of the others. "Students are sorted according to their values: bravery for Gryffindor, loyalty and justice for Hufflepuff, intelligence for Ravenclaw and ambition and resourcefulness for Slytherin. The Sorting Hat looks into your heart to find out which house you belong to."

"What's the Sorting Hat?" pipes up Naruto. McGonagall shoots him a quelling look.

"You will shortly hear your names called up after a speech from Professor Dumbledore and the sorting of our first years," she informs us, "so until then, please stay here." She gives us each a small nod, a smile curling at her lips, and sweeps out the room.

"What should we do now?" Tenten asks after a moment of silence. We stare back blankly, each drawing up nothing.

"Should we do a bit of reconnaissance?" suggests Hinata quietly.

I shake my head. "Your heard Professor McGonagall, he'll be calling us up soon. It's best we stay here for now and do what we have to do later tonight."

Naruto puffs his cheeks out, crossing his arms childishly. "I want to go in with a bang."

"You idiot!" hisses Neji immediately, rounding on him. "Don't you know that if we show any bit of chakra our cover might be blown?"

"I didn't say I _would_, I just said I _wanted _to!" Naruto yells, raising his voice. "Goddammit Neji, loosen up a bit, would you? I swear, you're getting like Sasu–" He stops abruptly, closing his lips tightly. The atmosphere's tense and we girls fidget uncomfortably; I go over to Naruto and bump his shoulder lightly in support. He smiles, but the tightness in his shoulder doesn't disappear.

At long last Dumbledore's voice penetrates the wall, reaching our sensitive ears. "This year, we've started a new program with a school in Japan. We'll be welcoming ten of their fifth-years for this school year, so please treat them as our own."

I raise my eyebrows in surprise; there were five other people? Moreover, from Japan as well? I've got a bad feeling about this… but before I can dwell on it any further Naruto leaps off the desk, places a hand on my back and gently urges me forward.

Eager eyes and whispers greet us as we walk into the hall. There are four long tables crowded with students, and as we walk past I distinctly hear someone say, "Is her hair _pink_?"

I'm really uncomfortable in this situation; ninja are usually supposed to stay in the shadows, but we're clearly in view, and this makes me paranoid. I try to calm myself down by looking for the five others, but I can't find them. The feeling in my stomach telling me that something bad's about to happen intensifies tenfold.

McGonagall is waiting in front of a table where the other professors are sitting with a battered hat that I assume to be the Sorting Hat in her hands. She smiles at us imperceptibly and then pulls out a roll, calling out names.

"Hyuuga, Hinata."

The shy heiress steps forward and sits on the stool; the hat covers her eyes. A moment of silence, then the bottom rips open and yells, "GRYFFINDOR!"  
I jump and look at my companions; they look even more surprised than me – but none of us are as shaken as Hinata as she hands back the hat, making her way back to our side instead of the loudly cheering table sporting red and gold accessories. My sharp eyes spot Harry as one of them.

"Hyuuga, Neji."

As her cousin takes his place, Hinata whispers, "I never expected that."

Before I can ask what, the brim of the hat opens again and shouts, "GRYFFINDOR!" Harry's table is going crazy.

"Haruno, Sakura."

Neji and I share a glance as we pass each other. I notice that his pale eyes seem wider than usual and he shakes his head slightly when I raise a questioning eyebrow. I guess I have to find out just what's so impressive about this hat by myself.

Like the two others before me, I sit on the stool, hyperaware of all the eyes on me before total blackness obscures my vision.

"_Interesting," _a voice murmurs near my ear. I start badly and hear a few chuckles. I tense and it chuckles. _"Peace, my dear kunoichi. I mean no harm. I intend only to look into your heart."_

"That's not any better!" I hiss back.

"_You ninja are quite different from the others," _it mutters amusedly. _"The two before you – cousins, no? – were wary as well. Now, let me see your soul._

"_Intelligent – infinitely intelligent. A worthy Ravenclaw. When you were younger you had nothing but intelligence on your side, correct? But now… now it's different. You've developed bonds with the people who are here today and you'll do anything to protect them. You're loyal to your village, where your heart lies… but there's an ache to prove yourself. To who? A black-haired shinobi who left you alone many years ago…"_

"That's enough!" I snap. "Quickly, if you please."

"_Impatient as your master, I see. Nonetheless you are compassionate and do not fear pitting yourself against an enemy who you believe is stronger than you, a quality needed to be a medical ninja. Your bravery outweighs your desire for attention – the scar that you bear from being skewered by that poisoned sword proves it." _I flinch as the Hat mentions the fight I had with the Akatsuki member, Sasori, a few months ago, before my birthday. _"Your ilk is valued in this house; therefore, you shall be _GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat shouts the last word and the table explodes in cheers. I shakily hand it back to McGonagall, who then calls out, "Mitarashi, Tenten."

We'd chosen to give Tenten a generic surname, seeing as she never told anyone her real own. She brushes my shoulder as we cross paths. Naruto's quiet when I reach him, a frown on his features. I shake my head, like Neji, and signal him to be quiet. It's the sort of thing that you have to experience to get.

Tenten returns, trembling, after being announced as Gryffindor. Harry's table is going nuts, throwing things at each other jubilantly, while I notice the table with green and silver seems pretty angry. They're shooting dark glances at us and muttering to each other.

"Uzumaki, Naruto."

Naruto's swagger is definitely confident, but there's something more. He's set his position so that if he were to be attacked from the side, he could easily reach his weapons pouch and slit the attacker's throat. That confidence of his doesn't come from nowhere; he's definitely one of the better ninjas of our village, despite the fact that he's officially classified genin. I'm pretty sure his current level is good enough to be a part of ANBU.

It takes the Sorting Hat a relatively short time to decide for Naruto – compared to his teammates', at least – but it's no surprise that the house it shouts is "GRYFFINDOR". After all, I know no ninja worthier of the title of most brave.

There's silence in the hall again and I know people are waiting for the five others, like me. As I look around I see the lanky-haired professor again; his gaze crosses mine, and my heart freezes. His eyes are cold and unfeeling, but his lips are twisted in a smirk. He seems severe, like McGonagall, but unlike her, I'm pretty sure he'll kill me if I so much _glance _wrongly his way. If I didn't know about Itachi and Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, this guy would definitely be on the top of my list of Most Hated People.

Another scroll appears before McGonagall; taking it, she stares at Dumbledore with a confused expression for a split second before opening it and reading, "Higa, Karin."

There's no movement in the room; everyone seems to be holding their breaths. A heartbeat passes and the murmurs of complaint start.

"Who is this Karin?"

"Where is she?"

"Can we get this over with? I'm hungry."

Suddenly the door flies open and a girl marches in, looking pissed. It takes me a moment to realize only half of her hair glaring red hair is short and unkempt, while the other half is long and sleek. Her eyes are the colour of rubies, hidden behind brown glasses. She grabs the hat from an aghast McGonagall, stuffing it on her head and tapping her foot impatiently. The hat yells, after a moment of consideration, "SLYTHERIN!" The table of green and silver cheers politely, but Karin seems to expect more people, staying next to a disgruntled McGonagall.

"Hozuki, Suigetsu."

A boy struts in, a cocky and arrogant smile on his face displaying a pointy-edged tooth. His hair reflects a light blue in the candlelight and his eyes are a shocking shade of purple. As he passes us he smirks, as if to say he knows something we don't; for some reason, I really want to punch his face in. But I reign in the urge, knowing that it wouldn't be good for our cover if I whip out my monstrous strength. He's pronounced Slytherin as well.

"Tenbin, Juugo… no?" McGonagall adds in the "no" hesitantly.

A large man with spiky orange hair comes in, his height definitely passing six feet. I notice that his height is the only thing intimidating about him: his red-orange eyes are serene, and so is his expression. He bows before taking the Sorting Hat from McGonagall, saying, "'Juugo' by itself is fine, Professor."

I really didn't expect to join his companions – after all, Slytherin seems like a pretty mean bunch and he looks nice – but he does. He places himself firmly between Karin and Suigetsu, who look like they're about to tear each other apart any second now.

McGonagall hesitates at the next name. "U – Uchiha, Sasuke."

It's like time freezes for a full week, month, year. Naruto and I stare at each other, blood completely drained from our faces; Neji, Tenten and Hinata are tense at our sides, but they can't understand our feelings. Naruto, Sasuke and I have a bond – a bond that can't easily be understood by others.

The Sorting Hat's words float through my mind again: _There's an ache to prove yourself… to a black-haired shinobi who left you alone many years ago…_

A shinobi I loved.

A shinobi I _love_.

A shinobi who's going to be attending the same school as us, for a whole year.

A shinobi who's one of the most notorious missing ninja of our village.

_A shinobi who's left us so many scars and turned away from us for his petty reasons._

Naruto and I reach out automatically for each other, our hands linking tightly together. His warmth is the only thing that's keeping me glued to the spot, the only thing that's preventing me from launching myself at the black-haired boy who's coming towards us and either throttling or hugging him.

He hasn't changed much physically, really. His hair's still the same, in the chicken-ass style I adored on him. He's definitely gotten taller, maybe a bit more handsome than before because now he really looks like a man, with sharp, angular features and a well-built body. But he's… different. He was always angsty, but it's like Sasuke is depressed. Angry. Furious. Sad. His eyes are blank as he passes us, but I can tell.

Something happened these past years. Something big. And he's not the Sasuke we know anymore.

He doesn't even look at Naruto or me as he passes by.

Tenten stands beside me and slips her hand in my free one, squeezing it in comfort. Hinata places hers hesitantly on Naruto's arm; he grabs it and holds it tightly. She reddens but thankfully manages to stay upright. Neji, being somewhat emotionally constipated, can only look on. He brushes our shoulders lightly.

As soon as the hat brushes Sasuke's dark-as-night hair, it yells, "SLYTHERIN!" There are whoops and catcalls from the green and silver table. Karin immediately latches onto Sasuke's arm when he reaches them, sending a jarring pang into my heart. What pisses me off even more is that he doesn't even move to remove her death-grip from him. Naruto gazes at me sadly and I shake my head, refusing to cry. Not for him ever again.

But it seems that isn't the only surprise life has in store for us. Another person's loping in, looking every bit as egotistical as Suigetsu. His hair is long and golden, half of it tied into a ponytail, another bit flopping over his left eye. His blue eyes are slanted, giving him a distinctly feline look, and there's an infuriating – I refuse to think _attractive _– smirk on his face. He lopes with the grace of a cat and radiates confidence with every step. I don't even need to hear his name to recognize him, but McGonagall doesn't seem to know my thoughts.

The next name she calls out is, "Watanabe, Deidara."


	6. Where the Dead Are Alive

**A/N:** Guise I'd like to make a very, very, _very _point in this author's note. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS!  
If you've stalked my profile before and saw what couples I ship I guess you'd see that right now I'm pretty interested in Akatsuki x Sakura… which explains why the wild Deidara appeared! So if y'all don't approve of DeiSaku, kindly click the little "x" on the sidebar. But JUST because I like this pairing atm does NOT mean that they'll end up together… or does it? ;)

Chapter 6  
Where the Dead Are Alive and the Alive Are Surprised

There's a moment of silence in our group. And then it explodes in hissed whispers.

"I THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD!"

"Where the _fuck _is my kunai?!"

"That was the guy who _blew himself up_! What the hell's going on?"

"Everybody, calm down."

"Oi! Your Byakugan is starting to show, control it!"

The students are starting to look at us, I note, slightly horrified. But I can't really care – since Deidara's standing in front of us. In front of me.

Deidara, as in the _Akatsuki member whose partner I killed_.

I'm in deep shit, for sure. The man's going to make my life hell for the next year.

"We have to report this," whispers Hinata at my side. "As soon as possible."

Neji nods stiffly. "Tonight. When the others are asleep."

Deidara whisks past us and he pauses for a breath, just enough for our heightened senses to notice. He stares at us and suddenly his lips are quirked up in an amused smile – well, as close as to a "smile" as an evil criminal can get. I get the feeling that he's sizing all of us up.

I can't really pay attention to what house the hat sorted him into, but considering the way he makes his way to the green-and-silver table I assume he was a new Slytherin. Numbly I go to the red-and-gold one, for Gryffindor. Naruto nudges me when I'm about to go the wrong way and sighs in a frustrated way when I make another stumble. His temper's certainly shorter, but he has a good reason; I'm not feeling so great myself. It doesn't help that I can feel five other pairs of eyes boring into our backs. He grabs my hand and leads me to where Hinata, Neji and Tenten are sitting with Harry and the two others we'd brushed by on the train.

"Congrats on making into Gryffindor," smiles Harry, seemingly oblivious to the tenseness in the air. We nod vaguely in his direction and I desperately squeeze Naruto's hand, aching for some sort of comfort. He discreetly rubs my back.

"Um, I'm Hermione Granger," the bushy-haired girl offers. She's grinning, but she seems more perceptive than Harry: she's looking at us worriedly.

"Ron Weasley," the guy who seems to be related to Ginny chips in. "Nice to meet you."

"And you," Neji answers gravely. He bows his head. "I'm Neji Hyuuga, Hinata's cousin. Please take care of us this coming year."

"Well, you guys heard earlier, but I'm Tenten," the bun-haired girl greets, smiling warmly.

"I've met you on the train," Hinata says shyly. "Hinata Hyuuga."

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki, believe it!" shouts the blonde next to me energetically.

"Sakura Haruno," I add quietly after a heartbeat. I suddenly feel so tired it's unbelievable.

Hermione bites her lip. "W-well, food should be appearing soon, so…"

"That's great!" Naruto smacks his hands together, feigning enthusiasm. Only the tight set of his shoulders give him away, but I'm the only one close enough to notice. He rubs his lips in anticipation. "They have ramen, right?"

Harry grins knowingly while Hermione and Ron cock their heads to side in confusion. "No, unfortunately. But we have a lot of other good foods."

He pouts. "But ramen…"

"You're going to have to live on something other than ramen in your life at one point," I scold my blond friend. Hermione smiles tentatively at me and I reciprocate it. "Besides, I'm sure there're other things that'll catch your attention…"

"Not likely," Naruto mutters rebelliously.

At that moment Dumbledore stands up, beaming at all the students. His eyes catch us for a brief moment and he looks away; Harry seems pretty disgruntled. "To our newcomers, welcome! To our old hands – welcome back! There is time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

People laugh and Naruto grumbles, "Tuck in to what?" But he's interrupted as food suddenly pops up onto the plates before us. Neji, Tenten, Hinata, Naruto and I stare at it with eyes as wide as saucers.

"Did that just…?" Tenten mutters aside to Neji. He nods faintly.

Naruto reacts first. He grabs a fork and starts lading his plate with everything he can reach. In a few seconds his face is stuffed so fully he can barely speak, but he's happy. The rest of us proceed with more restraint, but still eagerly. It seems actually that I'm the only one without much of an appetite – after two or three bites, I'm feeling full and fiddling with the rest of the stuff on my plate.

Naruto frowns in disapproval. "Here, Sakura-chan," he says, shoving his spoon at my face. "It's not good for you to not eat."

"I know," I sigh, then accept the offering.

Ron looks from me to him, eyebrows quirked. "Are you two, you know, dating?"

I choke on my food; Naruto sputters and starts wheezing, something lodged in his throat; next to me, Hinata is awfully stiff. Tenten rolls her eyes and pats Naruto on the back, somewhat harder than usual. I take the time to compose myself and say to the redhead, "We're not."

"Then?"

"Naruto and I have been together since young," I inform him, returning to my food. "We've been through a lot, so we're more like siblings than romantic interests to each other." Beside me, Naruto nods emphatically, still panting a bit. Hinata relaxes and she's smiling as she gracefully lifts her spoon to her lips.

"Oh." Ron's ears are red and Hermione shoots him a dry glare, her lips twitching. The two turn back to Harry, who – to my slight discomfort – is talking up a storm with a transparent ghost. His head wobbles slightly on his neck and to my horror I see that it's barely attached to his body; it looks like someone had tried to kill him by beheading him with an axe, but had given up halfway.

I'm suddenly very glad that back where we live, in Konoha, there's no staying on the earth as ghosts after death. It'd be slightly disturbing to see pale, see-through bodies with kunai stuck deep in their chests or a katana lodged in their heads. I shake myself, getting rid of those morbid thoughts.

Soon enough everyone looks like they've finished eating their fill. The food disappears and Dumbledore stands up again. Everyone focuses on him.

"Well, now that we are digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices. Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students – and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in the corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door.

"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." There's a round of unenthusiastic laughter; Harry looks pissed.

"Tryouts for the Quidditch teams will take place on the –" Dumbledore breaks off suddenly, looking curiously to the side.

A short woman's standing on the platform, her face distinctly toad like; her pink cardigan looks garish in the dim lighting of the hall. She's smiling, but I get the feeling it's fake. I know for sure that I shouldn't trust this woman. She clears her throat with a delicate little _hem-hem _that makes my toes curl in distaste. "Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome." Her voice is high and breathy, and it gets on my nerves so much that I want to charge at her and punch her with a chakra-enhanced fist. It's so _fake_.

Naruto seems to agree with me. When the woman continues her – totally unnecessary, I think – speech, he groans inaudibly and stuffs his face into his hands. "Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy faces looking back up at me!" A quick cursory glance around me confirms that no one is happy with her. "I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!" I gag and she resumes in a thankfully less fake voice, "The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born…"

At this point I tune her out. She's starting to sound awfully like she memorised her text and is repeating it word for word; it's so utterly _boring _that I want to vomit. Naruto mimes throwing up in his bowl and I barely manage to stifle my laughter. Ron is gazing at the table, looking like he's completely out of it and Harry's staring somewhere off to the side, where the blue-and-bronze table was. I follow his eyes and see that he's bashfully ogling at the pretty Asian girl who'd come to greet him on the train. Hermione's the only one listening with rapt attention to the woman's speech, but her lips are twisted in distaste. I let my gaze wander around the room, deliberately ignoring the green-and-silver table. (I really need to learn all the houses and their teachers' names.)

Soon – but not soon enough for me – the pink cardigan woman sits down, looking satisfied with her tedious as heck speech. Ron and Hermione leave us, telling us that since they were Prefects, they were supposed to go guide the first-years to the common room. Harry guides us there himself; I notice that other students are giving him – and therefore us – a wide berth and muttering behind their hands. He looks stressed. The five of us exchange glances and decide to keep quiet, our own ideas filling in the unexplained parts of the story.

Neville meets us in front of the portrait of a fat woman, saying "_mimbulus mimbletonia_". The portrait swings open and we wearily climb in; I'm pretty sure nothing can surprise us anymore.

We dawdle around the common room for a bit, so it's not as suspicious. Someone shows me, Hinata and Tenten to our dorms while another person leads Neji and Naruto to the other side. We spend another half-hour there, then discreetly slip out as the girls we're bunking with get ready for bed. Neji and Naruto are already waiting for us, wearing black shirt and pants. Robes would only get in the way.

We agree that Neji and Tenten should take the west and north wings of the castle while Hinata, Naruto and I take the east and south. Having a Byakugan wielder makes it easier for us; the rough sketching of the school plans won't take as long. We're to meet up in an hour to send a scroll with our news to our village.

My team's able to come up with a rough image of the school thanks to Hinata; we plan to deepen our recon with the following nights. Racing back to the determined place we see that Neji's keeping an eye out for Tenten with his Byakugan as she writes furiously away in a scroll.

"I've gotten the Akatsuki and Sasuke and his team here," she says as a way of greeting without looking up. "I'm asking what we should do."

I nod. "Add that Deidara looks fine, which is a huge surprise, considering the fact that he, you know, blew himself up at one point."

"Done and done. Anything else?"

I bite my lip. "How long is this letter going to take to get to Tsunade-sama?"

Neji frowns. "In usual circumstances, a week at most. But we're out of the country – even the fastest messenger bird is going to take at least a month or so with rests and everything,"

"That's no problem!" Naruto whisper-yells. He bites his thumb, performs a few hand-seals and poof, a small toad appears, croaking his displeasure at being called so late. "Oh shush," Naruto admonishes it. "Tenten, you done?" She nods and carefully rolls the scroll up after blowing the ink dry. "Gama here is the fastest toad I know. He'll be back in less than a week, for sure." Naruto hands the toad the scroll; it swallows it, lets out a disgruntled crow and leaps out the window. It's gone within seconds.

Naruto grins foxily again. "Now, all we have to do is wait for the granny's message."

Hinata sighs. "If only there was a faster way of communication."

"Really, Gama's fine –"

"We need to get word faster to Konoha," disagrees Tenten. Her brow's furrowed in concentration. "Do you think a teleportation jutsu would work?"

I scowl. "The thing with teleportation jutsus is that, well, both the sender and receiver must have matching scrolls that have a link. We don't have a scroll like that." I let out a small breath of exasperation. "I guess we'll just have to stick with Gama for now."

Naruto whoops silently in delight; he won't give up the chance to show off his toads easily. But even he acknowledges the fact that the faster our reports get to Konoha, the better; for now, we'll have to wing it until we get further instructions.

Neji closes his eyes briefly, deactivating his Byakugan. "Get some rest, all of you. We'll meet up tomorrow at dawn to discuss our plans until Tsunade-sama writes back."

Sleep's as far away as it can get from me: whenever I close my eyes I can only see blood red and sky blue eyes glaring at me. But Hinata and Tenten look dead on their feet, so I agree. When we settle into our beds, the other two fall asleep immediately. But I keep my eyes opened, listening to the soft breathing that fills the room.

That night, the Sharingan and exploding clay bombs haunt my dreams.


	7. He May or He May Not

Chapter 7  
He May or He May Not

Waking up in the morning is definitely not my forte.

It certainly is Tenten's and Hinata's, though. They start hitting me with pillows before the sun even rises just so I'd wake up. For a not so brief moment I seriously consider ripping them apart then going back to sleep, but seeing just how much fun they're having by torturing me in the morning, I decide to let it go. It's not as if we have a lot of opportunities to fool around these days.

We're sitting around a softly crackling fire on comfy couches when Neji and Naruto walk in, the former looking perky and awake, the latter still rubbing grit – eye poop, he calls it – out of his eyes. Neji lays out the plans that we made last night, pointing certain parts out.

"This is where we are now. As you can see, we're in one of the towers; the other's occupied by Ravenclaw." He circles a spot decorated with a blue-and-bronze emblem. "Hufflepuff's down near the kitchens while Slytherin's next to the dungeons, underneath the lake outside. As you can see, this castle is filled with hidey-holes and nooks and crannies. I don't doubt there are spots we missed last night. It's impossible that we'll map out all of the rooms here, even if we have a year, so we'll just stick to the basics.

"Here, here, here." His fingers ghost over the places he means. "We'll have to watch them carefully. I noticed this last night; it's like there are passages leading all the way out into the yard. Intruders could come in at any moment and we wouldn't be aware."

"Here too," interjects his cousin, pointing at a small room near Slytherin's dorms. "It's an exit only they can use, and I get the feeling that they're not the nicest bunch…" Her eyes flit over to where Naruto is sitting, his hands clenched so tightly around the chair's arm that his fingers are white. He tries to smile at her. Hinata resumes her analysis. "And here, on the seventh floor's left corridor… I thought I saw something, but I when I focused on it, it disappeared. It's like there's a room that can only be seen with the Byakugan if we're not looking for it…"

Neji frowns. "I don't particularly like the sound of that. What if it's a passageway that allows the enemy to infiltrate?"

"I don't think so. I mean, there's only an entrance to it – no exits."

"I thought you couldn't see it fully?"

"I could sense it."

Neji smiles, a slight uplift of his lips that showed his delight in his eyes. "You've grown well, Hinata." She grins and blushes at the compliment.

Neji resumes his explanations and we listen; this goes on for a good hour, seeing as the castle's so full of surprises. Finally, as the sun's rays start spilling in the room, he rolls up the papers and sighs, "I really hope we'll get word from Konoha soon."

Naruto fiddles with the tassels on his couch. "Gama should be back in a few days."

"A few days is a few days too many… what'll we do if they take action?" He didn't have to elaborate who "they" were. "We can't exactly do anything, because that would go against the Hokage's orders… and I highly doubt that Dumbledore would appreciate us tearing his school apart in a fight if that is to happen."

"It's best if we lay low for now," I agree. "This way we can find out more about Harry and this school."

"I'll look into Harry's history," Tenten offers immediately. Neji nods his approval.

At that moment the girls' dorm room creaks open and out pops a tiny girl of no more then five feet, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Yawning, she stumbles down the steps and stops, suddenly catching sight of us. Her eyes widen and she reddens, stuttering and backing up until her back hits the wall. She runs back up to her bed, but not before I see her face is as bright as a tomato's.

I turn to give a disparaging look to the boys with me. "Next time, dress properly and brush your hair or something before you come down. You'll end up killing the girls with how you look now."

Naruto glances down at himself. "There's a problem with how I look?"

I roll my eyes. "A huge problem."

Hinata, Tenten and I already are used to it seeing as we've grown up with the two, but I know for a fact that normal girls find them ridiculously attractive… especially during this time of the day. Neji's silky and long hair's tied in a loose ponytail and his skin is flawless in the morning; he looks neat and groomed, even though his clothes are slightly rumpled from sleep. His eyes are calm and alert. Naruto, on the other hand, looks the complete opposite: casually messy bedhead, sleepy puppy-eyes that would work on any female heart but mine. My wallet's already suffered too much; I've grown a hard heart against his pleas for ramen no matter how much he begs. I sigh and tug the blonde over, gently finger-combing his hair. "Go make yourselves presentable," I order when I'm done.

Ten minutes later we're standing in the common room again, this time in our school uniforms. We don't always have to wear those cumbersome robes, thank God, so I'd decided on the usual black skirt and dress shirt. I'd added a cardigan to hide the bump of my pack. We're also obligated to wear ties. The red-and-gold striped material gets on my nerves, but I compromise by loosening it around my neck so it's more comfortable. I scowl when the boys come into view; if anything, they look even _more _attractive than when they were befuddled with sleep, if that's even possible. We'll attract too much attention like this…

I'm not the only one who's noticed how handsome they look, I note with amusement. Tenten's jaw is slightly open as she stares at her teammates, a light pink flushing her cheeks, and Hinata's definitely redder than the girl that interrupted us before. I guess they really believe that men in uniform are one hundred times more charming.

Naruto tugs at the collar of his shirt self-consciously. "Do I look weird?" He pouts when no one answers. "I'll take that as a yes."

I roll my eyes again. "Good God, Naruto, you are so _dense_…"

People start filing in now, still rubbing sleep out of their systems. Some of them greet us drowsily, but most hang back with curious expressions on their faces. It's as if we both scare and fascinate them. Frankly, I understand why: not to be vain or anything, but the five of us _are _considered to be at the top of the visuals back home. Neji's calm and collected, the perfect Mr. Mysterious; Naruto's more affable and cheerful, his warm grin luring you in; Tenten's the dynamic little ball of energy that moves with complete grace; Hinata's the elegant and soft beauty with the wide, innocent eyes; and me – well, I have pink hair. Add to that our skills in combat and we're pretty desirable.

At that moment Harry, Ron and Hermione tumble out, stretching. They acknowledge us happily and the eight of us set down to the Great Hall. Hermione's chatting away about how the school works and it's pretty fascinating, but my mind can't help but drift away, looking for every detail.

The students are still avoiding us. They're still giving Harry the stink eye. They're still gawping at my friends and I like there's no tomorrow.

Not much has changed from the day before.

The four tables are more or less empty when we arrive, but there's food. I zone in on a plate of cookies and grab it, hugging it close to me and munching on them every now and then while listening to the conversation. Cookies are pretty rare in my diet, since they're high in fat and not really beneficial for the things I do, but it's nice to indulge once in a while. Although if I'm to stay here for a year and eat cookies every morning… Tsunade wouldn't be very happy with me by the time I get back home. I sigh regretfully and place the plate back on the table. It's immediately snatched away by Naruto.

Harry's talking to Tenten about a sport of some sorts called Quidditch, but she seems unimpressed. I hear her say, "So… you guys fly around on brooms and try to shoot balls into the hoops?"

"It's a lot more exciting than it sounds!" defends Harry, grinning. "I'll bring you guys out sometime to watch if you want, I'm Gryffindor's Seeker." He puffs his chest out proudly at that.

Inadvertently my eyes drift to the table that's facing us, the Slytherin one. I let out a relieved sigh as I notice that the people I'm half-looking for aren't there, but at the same time I'm a bit disappointed. I want to see for myself again just how much _he _has changed; maybe last night I was so blinded by shock that my vision was biased.

"Looking for someone, yeah?"

I hiss in surprise, whirling around, trying to find the source of the smooth, playful, definitely _male _voice that had whispered those words in my ear. My hands twitch towards my leg, where a few flat knives are strapped to my legs; only Naruto's quick reflexes prevent me from flinging one of them and possibly hitting another student. He pins my arms down, warning me with his eyes.

Deidara's there, his hands lifted in some sort of gesture of goodwill. With some surprise I note that the mouths on them are gone; but then I detect the slight genjutsu and I realize, _Oh. He's got an illusion going on_. He's smirking as usual, his one visible eye not masking his amusement at my reaction. Next to me my friends are tense, but Harry, Ron and Hermione look on with interest.

I push the fear and anger in my heart down into the pits of my stomach. Taking a few deep breaths, I manage to say through clenched teeth, "What do you want?"

He pretends to look affronted. "What? I can't say hi to fellow transfer students, yeah?"

"No."

"Feisty one, are you?" He laughs. "I never got to properly talk to you the first time we met, yeah. Sasori kept you pretty busy, huh?"

The scar on my stomach prickles unpleasantly as he mentions his previous partner's name. _This is it_, I think, dread curling inside me. _He's come to get revenge. I'm going to die_.

He seems to know what I'm thinking and leans forward. Naruto shifts in front of me slightly, a low growl deep in his throat. Deidara grins maliciously. "Out of the way, Kyuubi's jinchuriki. I've got no business with you… at least, not yet, yeah. She, on the other hand…" He jerks his chin at me and I glare at him. "We'll get to know each other well this coming year, yeah. Haruno… Sakura." It's as if he's savouring the way my name sounds to him; shivers run down my spine as I stubbornly return his leer with a glower.

"Deidara." I know that voice all too well. Slowly I raise my eyes from Deidara's to meet the one person I wanted to see, and yet didn't want to.

My vision wasn't biased, to say the least. If anything, the shock of last night underrated Sasuke's features. As ever, he's handsome. As ever, he's aloof. As ever, he's tormented inside. Karin is once again hanging on his arm, but I can't care about that now – not when I can see him so broken, right in front of me. I can reach out a hand and I'd be touching him – after all these years, I'm so close. I can finally bring him home with me. My fingers move up, but then Naruto's hands are encasing mine, pushing them down. For a second I swear I see Sasuke's eyes flit to where we are, but then he's looking at Deidara again and his lips are moving. It takes a while for me to fully register his words. "Don't dawdle around here. We have to attend to the Malfoy boy." At this, Harry and company stiffen and start glaring at them.

"Alright, yeah," Deidara scowls. "Don't keep telling me what to do. I'm your senior, yeah."

Sasuke's unfazed. "Hurry." He turns on his heel and leaves.

Deidara lingers for one last moment. "See you around, Konoha… Sakura."

"I don't like them," Ron mutters as soon as the blonde's out of earshot. We all nod fervently; Naruto places the cookies down, but I have no appetite anymore and don't feel the need to swipe them.

"Do you know them from before?" Hermione questions.

"You could say that," Tenten laughs bitterly. She's still pissed about the time he tried to kill them with his bombs, I guess. "Our history doesn't go way back, but there's definitely enough in there that makes me hate his guts."

"I'll say," Naruto mumbles, "I mean, hitting on Sakura-chan like that. Keep your guard up, okay?"

"You don't have to tell me twice." My hands are clenched into fists underneath the table and it's taking me all the willpower I possess to stop myself from exploding and ripping something apart. Maybe the wall.

"They're with Malfoy," mutters Harry. His mood seems to be pretty sour. "_Malfoy_."

"What's wrong with Malfoy?" interjects Hinata. The more information, the better.

He sighs, frustrated. "He's the biggest prick you can find on this whole planet."

When he doesn't elaborate, Ron adds, "He's the type of guy to say that pure-bloods are better than mixed, you know?"

No, we didn't. But we nodded as if we did. Hermione continues, "Malfoy's got a grudge against Harry because he always tops him no matter what. He's also pretty jealous of the popularity he receives."

"I'd rather have two parents than fame," was his sullen reply. Naruto nods sympathetically. "Besides, lately I don't think it's called 'popularity' anymore. More like 'animosity'." He pokes at his eggs unenthusiastically.

I chew my lip. What role does this Malfoy have in this story? Surely he's more than just a small nemesis of the protagonist. If not, _they _wouldn't be with him. I'm prepared to bet my house and possibly my status as one of the two precious students of the Hokage that they're on a mission to make sure we don't do anything funny while we're protecting Harry, like slitting Malfoy's throat while he sleeps so he won't be a nuisance to us anymore.

As for why Deidara's there… a few months ago we received word that Sasuke had killed Orochimaru, who'd wanted to use his body as a vessel in exchange for power. Other birdies claimed that he'd found a team – at first Naruto and I vehemently disregarded it, hanging on to the silly hope that maybe, just _maybe_, Sasuke still thought of us enough that he wouldn't replace us… but seeing him in front of us with our own eyes with that red-haired _harlot _hanging all over him makes us face the harsh reality. Sasuke doesn't and never did care for us. We were just impeding his road of revenge with our foolish ideas of "bonds" and "friendship" and "love". After he'd murdered his teacher, he made his way to the Akatsuki and proceeded to kill his brother – and then there was nothing. Some sources said that he'd joined the evil organization, others said that he'd committed suicide. Still others believed that he'd decided to roam the earth as a wanderer for the rest of his life.

We finally had our answer now. Sasuke had joined the Akatsuki and is bent on destroying everything – our village, our memories. I know that Akatsuki's goal is to capture and extract the Nine-Tailed demon from Naruto… and that it kills the host. I still can't get over the sight of Gaara's dead body in my mind.

Sasuke wants to kill his best friend. He still wants revenge, but for what? He'd finally killed Itachi, so why is he still lusting for blood? Could it be that he's lived for so long wishing for death that he's going to kill whomever he wants now? The mere thought disgusts and saddens me. Sasuke really isn't the Sasuke we know anymore…

I suddenly find myself aching for our days as genin. I miss sleeping out in the woods with Naruto and Sasuke next to me. I miss yelling at Kakashi for being late and publicly reading porn. I miss sharing tomato-flavored snacks with the boy I love. I miss our celebratory ramen-outings where Kakashi would suddenly disappear when the bill came. I even miss chasing after violent cats – because back then, Team 7 was still _together_. Sure, we have Sai now, and in a way Sai's ridiculously important to me despite him always calling me Ugly, but the Team 7 of back then always had, and always will have, a special place in my heart. Naruto seems to feel the same way as me; his eyes are bright with suppressed tears and he's smiling, but there's a pained feel to it. I close my eyes, and the memories flood into my mind. Each one is different, special. Each one is precious. From the time we'd first met to the time we'd protected each other during the mission to the Land of Waves… there's a distinct bitter aftertaste, but the sweetness of it all makes it worth it.

Harry, Ron and Hermione stand up. When we glance at them questioningly, they smile. "Time for class," the bushy-haired girl whispers. We nod and get up.

It takes everything I have to not turn around to catch a glimpse of _him_. I grab Naruto and Hinata's hands in support, glad I have such amazing friends that understand everything I go through. I squeeze them and smile, and what I want to say hangs between us in comfortable silence.

_Thank you._


	8. Discovering Hogwarts

**A/N:** HI! :D I'd just like to take the time and reply to some comments~~~  
FIRST UP! **Greylle** :) Dang it, you read my mind before I could post the chapter. You'll see why, but don't expect too much! Haha.  
SECOND! **Giang Tien**! Thank you Kat for recommending this fic to this awesome person, sorry if it doesn't meet your expectations... but I hope it will! So please keep supporting~  
THIRD! All the "guest" reviews... Uh, I'll say they're from the same person. Thank you for reviewing so many times! I really appreciate it and I'm glad you're looking forward.

**EDIT 02.11.2013:** Thank you **SaturnXK **for pointing out that major mistake :P I actually meant "knuckles" but have no idea how "muscles" came out... I think writing at 1 am isn't too good for my brain. Haha... whoops. Anyways, fixed! 3

And now, without further ado, please read chapter 8 of _Of Kunai Throwing and Avada Kedevaras_!

Chapter 8  
Discovering Hogwarts

I'm pretty torn up about this place, truth be told. I mean, Hogwarts is pretty cool with its moving paintings and friendly ghosts and all those lessons, but I mean, it just can't compare to _home_.

Besides, that Umbridge woman's seriously getting to me.

She's always wearing that stupid pink cardigan and that stupid pink ensemble with that stupid bow and the first time I stepped in her class she started telling me how little girls aren't supposed to dye their hair such an atrocious colour and how your natural colour must be so pretty and blah. She chewed out Hinata and Neji for their eyes, too, though I don't exactly see how they can change that. I don't think she believed me when I said pink _is _my natural colour, but then apparently Dumbledore had a talk with her and she had to give up. But that didn't make her any more pleasant – she never actually _teaches _us things, just makes us read out of a super boring book and watches us with her bulgy-eyed smile.

I point this out to the Golden Trio one day, to which Harry replies, "You five just came at a wrong time. Defence is a really interesting and fun class… at least, it used to be. And then that woman came." He glares spitefully at that and stabs his quill into his paper. "With Lupin it was the best."

"We're not even learning anything," Naruto complains as he slouches over his Potions work. He and Snape have some sort of animosity going on, as the blonde's already got a week's worth of detention after the first two days of school. I lean over and quickly scribble some corrections on his essay; although the names are different, the mixtures we're learning to make are the same ones Tsunade taught me a few years ago when I started being her apprentice. I have to admit some things are pretty new to me too, though. Snape disapproves of my way of working, but he can't really say anything because I get better marks than all of the students in the class. Even Hermione's awed by my speed. "Thanks, Sakura-chan. But seriously, that woman needs to learn what teaching really is. Even _Gai-sensei's _better than her, I swear."

"At least Gai-sensei's always on time," defends Tenten.

I roll my eyes. "You have a point there. Kakashi-sensei, ugh… but he doesn't make us run fifty laps around the village as a warm-up."

She has nothing to say that and rubs her neck sheepishly. Ron gazes at us with wide eyes. "Fifty… laps? Around a whole village?"

"That's on his good days when he's feeling lenient. The most we've ever done is a thousand." Neji pauses in his writing and cracks a few knuckles. Harry, Ron and Hermione gawp at us. "But it's really quite beneficial."

"If you say so," mumbles Ron, returning to his paper.

My mind drifts back to the first class with Umbridge and I scowl.

She'd made us read her stupid book for the whole period. I'd expected more, but then again, Umbridge's a woman in her mid-thirties to forties who wears pink fluffy clothes and bows. Even _I _don't wear pink fluffy clothes. Heck, even _Ino _wouldn't be able to pull off her taste.

But it wasn't only reading. Hermione and Harry had stubbornly spoken against her; when the latter had brought up something about a boy named Cedric and the "bad wizard" Voldemort, she'd gifted him with a detention after insisting that he was a liar. He'd come back from his punishment smelling of blood and the words "I must not tell lies" etched onto the back of his hand. My hate for Umbridge surged more, and I knew that that woman was going down as soon as this mission was done.

But not all lessons are bad. We all have our own favourites. Neji, unsurprisingly, is pretty interested in Divination, although he thinks the teacher's cuckoo. Tenten's going bonkers for Transfiguration, because she claims she can now transform everything into weapons. Hinata's got a special fondness for Charms. She's pretty talented in them too and managed to make her teacup walk on little wooden legs in the matter of minutes. Naruto says his favourite subject is lunch, but even he agrees, like Tenten, that Transfiguration is pretty fun. As for me, although I hate the teacher, Potions is my specialty. Herbology comes to a close second. I flash back to our first Potions class.

I didn't know, but the Gryffindors shared the lesson with Slytherins. It was slightly disconcerting, since I couldn't help but stare at Sasuke every now and then; as Snape talked on about the "Draught of Peace" of whatever it was called, half of the words didn't register in my mind.

"You have an hour and a half… start."

Snape's words had jolted me out of my brooding and I found myself slightly disconcertedly watching as the other students hurried from their cauldrons to the cabinet. I glanced at Naruto; he looked so lost I knew there was no point talking to him. I only had one option, then.

"Hinata, what did he say this potion does again?"

She smiled. "Relieves anxiety and agitation."

"Oh." I frowned and glanced at the ingredients in front of me. Shizune had once taught me how to make a potion that relieved injured ninjas' wounds, so I figured it should be about the same. There was the hellebore, the porcupine quills and the Valerian… but our anaesthetic usually needed things like calamus root and chamomile. Lo and behold, there were no such ingredients here. I sighed and made my way to the cabinet.

There was a bunch of things in there, some of them familiar, others not so much. I picked up a green bug with large transparent wings and placed it to the side. There was belladonna, a venomous plant that I was very familiar with and adored for its uses. I pocketed a few discreetly. Other ingredients were sneaked into my pack as well for further observation later. Finally I came across something useful: moonstone. It was in its powdered form… all the better. Moonstone was incredibly useful for soothing stress. I hurried back to my cauldron and threw everything in.

The potion started shimmering slightly, and a light silvery smoke rose from it. I frowned; from my experience, such a mixture should be a lovely turquoise, but mine was still clear. The calamus root was missing.

But they _didn't _have calamus root. I went back to the cabinet and sorted through the things, wrinkling my nose slightly when my hand brushed against something shrivelled covered in a jelly-like substance that stunk up a storm. There was really nothing I recognized that could take up the role of calamus there. If I added that leafy plant over there it could work… but it could also explode in my face. I sniffed it cautiously; the overpowering scent of fresh horse dung attacked my nostrils. I put it back down, deciding not to take the risk.

"Geez," I whispered in Japanese, annoyed, "why can't you just have things I can use?"

"Why don't you try this?"

I whipped around to see a smirking Deidara holding a bag filled with white powder. Placing myself in a defensive stance, I hissed, "Drugs do _not_ help anything."

He barely looked insulted. "They're not drugs, Sakura."

"Then what are they?"

He grinned and tossed it at me; I caught it and glared at him. "See for yourself." He waved and loped off to where his teammates were stirring their mixtures.

I opened the bag and sniffed cautiously; there was no scent, but a sudden wave of calmness rolled over me and I knew it's just the thing I'd been looking for. I returned to the table without looking at Deidara, not wanting to see his smug smile, and dumped a bit of the powder in my cauldron. The potion bubbled and slowly calmed down, gradually darkening to the right shade. I sat back and grinned.

A few minutes later Snape noticed me slacking off and swooped in on me. "Haruno, are you done?"

I nodded. "Yup."

He sneered. "I highly doubt it. Even the most experienced potioneers need at least an hour to get the exact measures, and you have barely used half of your allotted time." He'd been walking towards me as he scolded me and leaned down to check my work, more insults on his lips. They died as he gaped.

I smirked. "An hour? You must have some crappy potioneers, then. Back at home I could make this in ten minutes."

He snapped his mouth closed, looking furious. "Very well, Haruno. Let's see if this potion is worth anything at all." He conjured a small bottle and filled it to the tip.

"I don't know why you bother," I shrugged. "Everyone acknowledges me as one of the top three potion makers."

He didn't deign to answer and tucked the bottle into his robes. Naruto chuckled not-so-softly beside me. "You tell him, Sakura-chan!"

Snape wheeled on him. "You, Uzumaki, what do you have to show me?"

"Oi, I have a first name, y'know."

"What is _this_?" Snape took a ladleful of Naruto's potion, which was a sad, sad grey. "Uzumaki, what have you done to the Draught of Peace?"

"I just put some random things in. I mean, this isn't my thing – it's more Sakura-chan's." He rubbed his head, fighting a yawn. Clearly he didn't like this class.

Snape's mouth twisted in some sort of mix between fury and satisfaction. "Detention Uzumaki, and I want an essay about how you should respect your teachers for tomorrow. Ten inches. I expect to see it, and you, tomorrow after classes." He strides off.

Naruto looked like he's about to explode. "That –!" Hinata quickly reached over and covered his mouth, but he was still red with anger. She took it back quickly, her cheeks blushing a very, very bright red that had nothing to do with the fumes. I shared an amused look with Tenten, whose potion was an acceptable white colour.

A book flying from the other side of the room jerks me out of my reminiscing; I duck just in time for it to zoom above me, where my head had been a split second before, and it settles softly into Hinata's arms. I scowl at her. "Watch where you're summoning, would you Hinata?"

"Sorry," she replies unrepentantly, "but you know I can't control the direction." She flips through the pages, a smile tugging at her lips. I settle back into my couch, my own book in my lap forgotten.

Naruto lets out a frustrated growl. "Ugh, I really don't understand this!" He throws his quill down and pouts. "Screw this, Snape can take his essay and shove it up his –"

Hermione clears her throat and glares at him disapprovingly, although her lips are twitching in amusement. "It's your attitude that gets you where you are, you know, Naruto." She and the other students pretty much massacre our names, pronouncing the "r" too strongly, but we don't really mind it. "In a way you're like Harry, always mouthing off."

"I don't do it _that_ much," the spectacled teen defended. When his bushy-haired friend raised an eyebrow, he sighed. "Alright, so maybe I do. Mind helping with this, Hermione?"

She grins and bends over, reading his essay over. Beside them, Ron is also writing furiously, his tongue between his teeth. Neji, Tenten, Hinata, Hermione and I have already finished Snape's tough homework, so we're allowed to relax a bit. I languidly fiddle with my fingers, mulling everything over.

We've only been at school for two days, but I don't think I've been more surprised in all my life than in these past forty-eight hours. From ghosts drifting in and out of classes to paintings chasing after you for saying something to people sprouting suspicious-looking venomous green boils from a jinx gone bad, I've certainly collected a lot of useful information for Konoha. Apart from new potions that could save lives on the battlefield, Hogwarts has an impressive array of plants that had amazing medical potential. I'd made a mental note to send as much as I could back home.

I'd enjoy my stay a lot more if I didn't have _them _to distract me. Sasuke, Deidara and their companions are always on some part of my mind. I see them every time we go down to the Great Hall, pass by them in the hallways, am forced to sit through Potions and Care of Magical Creatures with them. My senses are always on edge whenever I feel them near my vicinity and I feel tense and irritable. The Golden Trio don't quite understand why, but they're sensible enough to not ask why. I think Hermione's already established the link between us and them and has told her two boys just enough so they won't pry. I'm actually grateful for her intelligence, happy that I'd found a similar soul to me in a place so foreign.

It doesn't help that Deidara often goes out of his way to find me. If I was in the hallway and he was way down in some class and saw me, he'd sprint to me and start annoying me in any way possible. It's like he relishes in mocking me. So far he hasn't tried anything funny on me yet, like throttling me in revenge for Sasori.

Sasuke… as much as I don't want to think about him, he's always there. He hasn't spoken one word to us, but our very first class together he'd caught Naruto's and my eyes and had held them for a full moment before looking away. I'd never been scared of him before, even when I'd heard he'd killed Orochimaru a few months prior. I'd always believed the Sasuke we knew was lurking somewhere behind those black depths, waiting to emerge. But for that instant I'd been afraid… because his eyes were completely _empty_. There was nothing there.

My hands clench into fists unconsciously and I blink furiously, hating the way my nose prickled. I am _not _going to cry. Not here. Not anywhere, goddammit. Hermione looks up and smiles at me briefly, worried yet curious. I nod back, pretending to be fine. Tenten crawls over and puts her head against my legs. It might seem it's because she's just looking for a spot to rest, but I can tell she's trying to comfort me. I grin slightly and stroke her soft brown hair in thanks. A few seconds later Neji sinks down in front of us, crossing his legs and sitting with his back very, very straight. For a split second he gazes at me with piercing lavender eyes; then he lowers his face and it lands on Tenten, who's dozing lightly. The tightness in his shoulders softens.

Naruto scurries over to Hinata, essay in hands. It seems he wants to finish it as soon as possible, even if he claimed he wouldn't. The heiress' face is red, but she fights to keep the colour out of her cheeks. I'm surprised – Naruto's pressed right against her side, beseeching her with bright blue eyes and pouting oh so slightly. In normal circumstances she'd have fainted, but it seems Hinata's gotten a new resolve. She's helping him as best as she can, stuttering a ton but still understandable. When she finishes explaining, Naruto engulfs her in a tight bear hug. This is a bit too much for her, as she turns an even more alarming shade of scarlet, but she just barely manages to hold onto her consciousness. As Naruto hurries to end his work with her help, Hinata smiles tenderly down at him. It seems that she's really gotten over the days of eating Naruto-shaped onigiri and hiding at the sight of him.

I'm happy for her, I really am. The Neji and Tenten coupling warms my heart too. But it just seems like I'm alone on this mission, alone in _life_. I get the feeling I'll either die very soon, maybe at the end of this year, without really experiencing what it's like to be in a relationship. Everyone around me seems to be all lovey-dovey: there are rumours of a triangle relationship between Shikamaru, Ino and Temari; Gaara has a little follower by the name of Matsuri; even Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei are still going strong. This sort of makes me feel bitter, because the only love I've experienced wasn't even _love_, but just infatuation… or so I tell myself. I really can't tell the difference.

Maybe I should start to get to know Sai better when I return. _If _I return. He's gotten a lot better compared to before; he isn't as emotionally constipated. He's actually pretty sweet, in a way. He's stopped calling me Ugly too, which is a big plus.

I sigh. Here I am, contemplating on starting a relationship with a man I could call my brother who's thousands of kilometers away. And it's a weird thought, since I can _only _think of him as a brother, nothing more. I'm just looking for trouble.

I pick up my book and start flipping through its pages, hoping for something interesting to capture my attention, but nothing does. As the fire crackles softly beside me, I feel myself being lulled into lethargy by the quiet warmth surrounding me. My eyelids droop down and before I know it, I'm already dreaming.


	9. Word From Home

Chapter 9  
Word From Home

Another three days pass. We get to know Harry, Ron and Hermione better and they're proud to call us their friends. Really, they're the only people we really interact with. The other students are still too cowed by our appearances.

Today we're lounging around the common room, some of us working, others simply contemplating their lives. I'm one of the latter, staring at the cover of my copy of Defensive Magical Theory, while Naruto cusses Snape out in all of the languages he knows. There's a bit of Japanese, and a few English insults I tuck away for future reference if I ever need to freeze someone out. Neji's meditating while Tenten is lying on her back, gazing at the ceiling. Harry, Ron and Hermione are making last-minute check-ups to their essays that are due in a few days.

"Did you have Potions back at your school in Japan?" Hermione asks curiously as Naruto furiously crosses out a few sentences, muttering darkly under his breath. He has extra Potions work because he ticks Snape off.

"You could call them that," I confirm, "but only certain people are qualified to take the course."

"Why's that?"

"Actually, our 'potions' are different from yours; ours are made mostly under pressure, so the people who train to become medics who'll then use the potions must be level-headed and have a clear understanding of all the elements inside."

Hermione frowns. "Why under pressure?"

"Back there everything's fast-paced," I reply vaguely. "You never know when you need to know when you'll need an antidote for a poison or something like that."

At that point the common room door opens and Hinata sidles in. She'd gone out for a brief moment to scope our surroundings. She smiles slightly and nods, indicating that nothing seems to be out of order; we sigh inaudibly and return to what we were doing.

It's already Friday, and we won't have classes tomorrow. But that doesn't mean we don't have homework – we have a whole buttload. There's Potions and Transfiguration, Astronomy and even Divination. Frankly I think all of it pretty useless for us – except maybe Potions – but it won't do for all five of us to stay after classes just because we don't do our work; it'll hinder the nightly recon. Naruto can take the punishment for us.

Speaking of, the blonde's sighing, highly irritated. "Sakura-chan, what's this Mandrake potion thing? I mean, did that guy say one or two ounces of porcupine quills?"

"Why don't you ask Hinata?" I suggest, winking at the suddenly red-faced girl. Her eyes are both alarmed and thankful as my best friend turns to her, demanding help. While the rest of them are working, I kick back and pretend to read the chapters Umbridge assigned us. My eyes roam over the pages, but I'm not really processing the words: I'm thinking about this past week.

There still hasn't been word from Konoha. I expected as much, since we're literally thousands of miles away from home, but a small part can't stop hoping that maybe Tsunade's already gotten our message and is writing back to us as fast as she can. Sasuke and company don't talk to us, but we're forced together in classes every other day. We ignore them, they ignore us – it's an unwritten agreement. But we can't help but sneak glances at each other every now and then.

I've made a lot of observations about them these past five days. Suigetsu's the flirty playboy type; he likes to tease all the girls he comes into contact to. We haven't talked to him before, but from what the whispers say, he's pretty arrogant and indifferent to anything that doesn't concern him. He also likes mocking Karin, even if it means he gets beaten up every second of the day. Karin's the typical fan girl I used to be: she follows Sasuke around everywhere and simpers all the time when she's around him. But when he's not there – say, he's gone to the loo or something – she's tough and pretty snarky towards the other students. Juugo, on the other hand, is the silent and gentle type. He barely speaks, but when he does he usually says something with a deep meaning and helps his peers if he can. He doesn't seem to be aware that there's a rivalry between the houses; I saw him helping a young boy with the Gryffindor emblem on his robes up the other day. He seems like a sweet man, but nonetheless we keep a wary eye out for him.

There's not much to say about Sasuke, except, well, he's psycho. He hasn't changed much personality wise, though: according to the swooning young women that Hinata, Tenten and I share a room with, he doesn't talk much either but has a "bad-boy" and "edgy" feel to him. By "bad-boy" and "edgy", I assumed they meant "crazy" and "homicidal". Back in our Team 7 days I'd assumed he'd started caring for us like family, but now, he's completely aloof again and displays a biting sense of cynicism. He's gotten pretty cocky too, according to the girls, but they claim that that's okay, as it makes him "hotter". I nearly gag at this but out of respect for our roommates I give them the benefit of doubt. What really bugs me more and more every day is that he lets Karin hang off his arm like some kind of leech without batting an eyelash; if it were me, I thought, he'd push me off and call me annoying. The red-haired girl seems to know this, because each time our eyes cross she smirks and presses his arm closer to her chest. At most Sasuke will sigh in a frustrated way and a slight frown will crease his features, but he doesn't move away.

Deidara… I still haven't made up my mind if that man is psychotic, delusional or just plain _weird_. He follows me around whenever he sees me and chatters away, trying to get a rise out of me; more than once I wanted to punch him but restrained myself. He seems disappointed at that, but accepts it with a grin and tries another way of pushing my buttons. It's like he _wants _me to knock him into the middle of next week. If I didn't know better I'd say he has a death wish somewhere in his mind. I'm sure he's just trying to get an excuse to beat me up for what I did to his partner.

Harry, Ron and Hermione bid us goodnight then, yawning and rubbing their tired eyes. It's already way past midnight, but years of nocturnal hunting has gotten the five of us used to staying up in the late hours. As soon as they're out of sight, Naruto sighs, "I wonder when Gama's going to be back."

Before he can even finish his sentence, though, there's a poof of smoke and a loud croak. The toad he sent last week has returned, looking a bit worse for wear but still _here_. And he's got a bit of paper attached to him. It's a bit smaller than I expected, but nonetheless it proves that Tsunade has written to us. I hurriedly reach over and detach it from the amphibian, who croaks tiredly and disappears after receiving praise from his summoner.

"When you read this make sure no one is around," I read out loud, "I will meet you within two minutes." I frown. "Meet us? What does she –?"

At that moment the fire, which had been crackling lazily, burst into spirited green flames and Tsunade's head pops into view. I nearly shriek and back up; her lips are twisted in a smile, but her eyes are weary. "Good to see you all."

"S-s-s-s-shishou!" I stutter. My companions all have the same reaction as me. "What are you doing here? _How _did you get here?"

"Something called Floo Powder. But listen closely, I don't have much time." She scowls. "Your letter's really disturbing, to say the least… are you absolutely sure that the Uchiha has joined the Akatsuki?"

"What would they be doing here with the explosives master if he didn't?" counters Neji.

"I know, I know. It's just to check." She bites her lip and turns on me. "Sakura, Tenten says that he has a particular interest in you. Is that true?"

I nod. "I don't know why, but he actually does."

"He might want revenge for what you did to his partner. But then – our information on him says he doesn't care about anyone, much less Sasori." Her brow furrows in concentration. "I'm not too sure what to make of this, frankly. But Shikamaru has told me over and over that we should keep our enemies close. Very close." She lets out a sigh. "Sakura… stay with him."

My jaw drops open. "W-what?"

"I don't like the idea either! But Shikamaru's got a valid point. This way, you'll be able to find out what they're doing there."

"What if he really is out to get Sakura?" Hinata asks quietly, eyes worried.

Tsunade nods. "Yes, I've thought of that. That's why all of you must stick together at all times, do you understand me?" We acquiesce silently, but there's an uncomfortable knot in my stomach. "As for Sasuke and his group –" Naruto stiffens considerably, expecting to hear the worst, "don't take him. Not just yet." The blonde relaxes, but his eyes are still serious. "You don't have the resources to take him down. So far, no one in the village knows that he is there, and I intend to keep it that way. Should the need come I will send reinforcements there if he causes trouble. Do not provoke him in any way."

"What if he returns to Konoha?" Naruto's whisper is soft and sad, filled with tentative hope.

The Hokage's eyes are sad and doubtful. "You know that's unlikely Naruto."

"There's always a chance."

"Then…" Her lips purse. "Then, bring him home. _However_," she stresses as he starts to beam, "that is _not _your priority. You are to protect the wizard boy for the next year. Everything else, including personal affairs, will take a back seat for now."

"Yeah, yeah, got it Granny," grins Naruto. His mind's already far away, imagining a future with him, Sasuke, Sai, Kakashi and me in the ramen shop.

"In a few hours you will receive a bit of news from Dumbledore," continues Tsunade, frowning in displeasure. "I told him it would not be a good idea, but considering this new course of action it might be desirable." Her eyes flicker back and she curses loudly. "Someone's coming. I have to go. Good luck." Before we can say anything she disappears with a small poof.

The five of us stare at each other, seconds ticking by. Finally Tenten says dryly, "I don't think this kind of thing should surprise us anymore, really." I laugh shakily.

Neji doesn't seem to be in the mood for joking. "What's this news she's talking about? And how come I get the feeling that it's not going to be good?"

"You worry too much," admonishes his bun-haired partner. "We'll think about that when tomorrow comes. For now we should be grateful that Tsunade-sama's even contacted us. Word came faster than expected."

"Tomorrow…" I sigh. Tomorrow I'll have to act buddy-buddy with a guy that I'm sure hates my guts and that I've spent the last week pushing away. All for the mission.

"Sakura, don't worry too much about it," Hinata smiles gently. "You'll do well, I know it. You're _you_, after all."

I grin thankfully at her. "Thanks, Hinata. I know I can trust you of all people."

She laughs lightly, then turns her attention back to Naruto. "Naruto-kun?"

He looks up and then I see he's grinning like a fool. "Bingo!"

"Tsunade-shishou says we can't focus on trying to find ways to bring him back," I scold him, even as a small flower of hope blooms in my chest. Then I remember how cold his eyes are and it's immediately crushed. "And, like she said, it's highly unlikely."

"I've spent three years believing that he'll come back, I'm not going to stop now!" he says, eyes bright. "I just _know _that Sasuke will –"

He falls silent immediately and, as one, our heads whip to the staircase on the girls' side of the tower, where we can hear soft footsteps. A moment later Hermione's bushy head appears. She's yawning and rubbing her eyes, but we can tell it's an act: her body is visibly tense. She's a pretty good actress, though. "Oh? You're still awake?"

"We're just writing letters to home," I lie nonchalantly, gesturing to the parchment in front of us. Thankfully we'd had some in our bags. Hinata hurriedly reaches over and scrawls some random words.

"Oh."

"What're you up to?" Tenten asks.

"Oh, uh…" Hermione seems to be searching for words. "I was thirsty, so I came down to get some water."

There's water in the dormitory; all of us are aware of that fact. After a silent minute she turns around and sprints back up. We exchange a glance.

"She's worried for us," I say in a low voice.

"Doesn't matter," Neji replies. "She's too smart for her own good. If she finds out what we are and why we're here, it's over."

Hinata bites her lip. "If you ask me, I really don't think she'll be a problem. Hermione's a sweet girl and I don't think she means us any harm."

"I agree," Tenten trills.

"Whatever," Naruto yawns, "we'll figure this out tomorrow. It's time to sleep, so when Dumbledore gives us that 'news' we'll be ready for it. G'night." He waves and blunders off. After a breath Neji follows him, his brow furrowed in thought. Hinata, Tenten and I shrug and make our way to our beds. Before I gave myself up to sleep, though, I glance towards where Hermione is. It looks like she's in a deep sleep, but she's awake. I smile softly and murmur, "Good night."

It seems like seconds later I open my eyes. I'm dreadfully tired and my stomach is twisted in a know of dread; it takes me a while to remember why.

_Oh yeah. Operation Be-Deidara's-Best-Friend is on starting from today._

Within moments Neji. Naruto, Ron and Harry join us girls and we make our way to the Great Hall. Admittedly I'm feeling very tense and snappish; when Ron tries to ask me something I bite his head off. But I apologize later. He looks a bit reproachful but I do my best to appease his hurt soul.

They're not at their table when we seat ourselves. I let out an inaudible sigh of relief as I dig into my toast. Beside me Naruto is snarfing down eggs and sausages and everything he can reach. It seems that Tsunade has made him feel revitalized by giving him a somewhat approval to bring Sasuke back home.

Ten minutes pass and all shoulder our book bags, prepared to leave class. We have Care of Magical Creatures now, so we pull on our jackets; the September air is quite chilly. It's one of the classes that we share with the Slytherins, but I still don't see the ones I'm looking for. In a way it's good, I guess, since I don't have to immediately act. But it's making me feel more and more on edge.

Professor Grubbly-Plank starts the lesson by talking about something called a Kneazle; apparently they're cat-like creatures who are extremely aggressive and intelligent, and if they like you, they'll be the best pet you'll ever own. Hermione whispers to me that her cat, Crookshanks, is half-Kneazle. They're pretty interesting, really; they look like normal house felines, but with lion tails, but not all of us have luck with them. Naruto and Neji are immediately hissed and scratched at; last time I saw Ron he was sprinting away from a particularly vengeful-looking one, which makes me wonder what he did in a previous life.

Hermione, as expected, is respected by them, but they still don't approach her willingly; same with Tenten. Harry and Hinata are carefully greeting the Kneazles who'd neared them. I stick out my hand to the furry group and regret it as soon as I did: they're looking at my fingers like they'd be a good exercise for their claws. I withdraw them very slowly and to my surprise, one of them follows.

It's tiny thing, maybe the smallest of the pack. It still looks like a kitten. It's a fiery orange-blonde and has green eyes that sparkle with intelligence. I still my hand and it approaches it cautiously, mewling. Behind it the other Kneazles hiss in disapproval. The kitten swats at me experimentally and I jerk my hand away, teasing it. Yowling, it hurries forward and jumps around happily.

"It seems that the little one likes you." I turn around and see Professor Grubbly-Plank smiling down at me. "He's never reacted to anyone like that before."

"I like cats," I reply, smiling, "even though they aren't exactly cats." She laughs and walks off to where Naruto's nursing scratched hands.

It's around this time that the kitten manages to latch on to one of my fingers. I exhaled in surprise: his claws are _sharp_. Withdrawing my hand quickly, I glance around to see if anyone's watching and let my chakra heal the wounds. The Kneazle looks at me forlornly, as if he's wondering why I won't play with him anymore. I grin down and offer my arms; it jumps in and starts purring wildly. I cradle him and walk off to where my friends are.

Neji's gotten a tentative truce with a haughty-looking white Kneazle who's glaring at him but allowing him to move towards him. Hermione's chattering away about her Crookshanks to Tenten, who's warily petting a grey, fully-grown Kneazle. Harry and Hinata are cautiously offering their hands to one that has fur as dark as night while Naruto watches enviously, sucking on his bleeding fingers. And Ron's cowering behind Hermione, watching the Kneazle in front of him with wide, distrustful eyes.

The Slytherins and Gryffindors make two distinct groups in this class; we can tell who's in which house easily. The Gryffindors are resting on the left side of the yard while the Slytherins stay on the right; every now and then there would be a glaring competition between students of opposite houses. I shake my head and coo down at the blissful Kneazle I'm holding.

Suddenly arms wrap around me from behind; I squeak but manage to keep my grip on the kitten. They disappear as abruptly as they'd appeared. I whirl around and see a grinning Deidara, hands up in the air as if to calm me. I'm ready to chew him out but then I remember, _Oh right. Keep your enemies closer_. I glare at him and clutch onto the Kneazle tightly so I won't lunge at him. "What do you want?"

He smirks. "I was expecting to see your temper. I hear it's only second to that lady Hokage's, yeah."

"It is," I admit. "So?"

"Don't you know it's sexy when girls are angry?" He winks. When I glower at him he laughs. "I joke, I joke. Don't be so uptight about everything, yeah." He leans down and stares at the Kneazle. "He's a cutie, isn't he?"

"Yeah." I tense guardedly as he cocks his head to the side.

"Can I pet?"

"Depends on him."

Deidara reaches out and stops right in front of the Kneazle; the kitten looks suspiciously at the fingers offered and mews. He seems to be debating whether or not Deidara's a bad person. After a moment he seems to think that maybe the bomb specialist isn't that bad and shoves his head against Deidara's hand. Grinning, the blonde pets him and says, "I'm sexy to cats, yeah. What can I say?"

I suddenly get the urge to laugh, but stifle it. It comes out as a strangled sort of half-snort, half-grunt. He raises his eyebrow. "What was that, yeah?"

"I was just thinking about how stupid you are," I answer flippantly, smirking.

His eyes narrow infinitesimally. "You did _not _just say that, yeah."

"What if I did?"

"You might not know this, but I'm not only a bomb specialist, but a tickle specialist too, yeah." He wiggles his fingers; I glare at them, amused.

It's weird. I'm actually supposed to hate Deidara and maybe be afraid of him, but I don't, and I'm _not_. Kneazles are supposedly able to tell the difference between the good and the bad people, and the kitten in my hands seems to think that he isn't that bad. Maybe it's _because _it's only a kitten, I try to reason, but it seems like a lie. Despite Deidara being a part of the most dangerous S-Class organization, he just doesn't seem like a bad guy.

But that doesn't mean I trust him.

"Deidara." Ice trickles down my spine at this new voice and my blood runs cold. I stiffen, a feeling of déjà-vu washing over me, and glance over my shoulder. Sasuke's there with Karin hanging on his arm again, Suigetsu and Juugo standing behind them. He doesn't even bother to glance my way and levels his gaze at the blonde beside me. "Come."

"Who're you to tell me what to do, yeah?" Deidara grimaces. "_I'm _the older one, yeah."

"It's better off if you don't talk to her." His eyes flicker towards me for the briefest second and there's an emotion there, something that's completely unfamiliar and that sends shivers down my spine. But then it's gone, _he's _gone, and he's talking to Deidara in that deadpan manner again. "You know what he said."

My brow furrows and I clutch the Kneazle closer to me. _Who's _he_? _I wonder. Then a comforting hand places itself on my shoulder. I recognize it without even turning around. Naruto's grinning, but he's tense. "Oh hey, if it isn't the Sasuke-teme."

To my utter surprise, Sasuke actually replies. His eyes find Naruto's. "Naruto."

The fox-boy keeps his voice light. "How's life? I see you got new teammates to replace us." I gape at him at that, wondering where on Earth he's going with that. "But I gotta say, your taste is pretty bad." His blue gaze drifts towards Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo. The white-haired boy sneers and makes a rude hand gesture.

"Hn." There's silence between us for a full minute; no one dares approach us. I can just imagine how this looks to an outsider and how intimidating it must be for them. We're giving off a very hostile feeling. Neji, Tenten and Hinata are a little bit behind us, knowing not to intrude. It's a meeting between former Team 7 members, of course, so they think it's none of their business; on the other hand, Karin presses herself closer to Sasuke, glaring at us without saying a word.

"Sasuke," Naruto whispers at last, his voice sad, "until when are you going to be like this?"

For the first time his calm façade breaks. Sasuke's angry. "My revenge is not yet completed."

"Itachi's already dead!" Naruto's voice is heated, urgent. "Wasn't that your goal from that time? So _why won't you come home_?"

"You don't know anything," Sasuke says. It looks like the blackness of his eyes is starting to bleed into red. "You don't know _anything_, so don't tell me to go back to that place!"

"We're all waiting for you. After all these years, we're still waiting for you." Naruto shakes his head. "This new 'power' of yours… isn't even really power. True strength comes when you realise just how much you have, how many people rely on you… when you find out what those around you mean to you."

"Naruto…" I murmur. I turn back to my former teammate, who's still looking furious. "Sasuke…"

And then he finally, _finally _looks at me. Although he seems resentful, there's something in his eyes – desperation, hope, sadness. "Sasuke, I – we –"

"Sasuke-kun," Karin whines suddenly in a loud voice, "we should go now." She glares at us from underneath her glasses and her grip on his arm tightens.

Sasuke blinks and then all emotion is gone from him, and he's that unfamiliar Sasuke again. My heart twists and I bite my lip, looking down. "Deidara, stop dawdling around." He turns on his heel and strides off.

The longhaired blonde whistles. "What an ass, yeah. Guess I'd better go." He waves and saunters after his teammates.

"Don't worry about them, Sakura-chan," whispers Naruto. I nod, but continue to stare down at the Kneazle kitten in my arms. He takes my face in his hands and gently lifts it up, forcing my to look at him. I blink the wetness in my eyes away. "I made you a promise, remember? I'm going to bring Sasuke back, no matter what."

"At this rate… at this rate, he won't want to –"

"I'll _make _him, then. Sasuke is a pain, but he's _ours_. I won't give him up easily to creeps like that!" His blue eyes gaze into my green ones earnestly. "Trust me, Sakura-chan. That's all I'm asking you to do. That's all I _want _you to do. I'll get all of us together again – you, me, Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-taichou, Sai and Sasuke. It'll be okay, we'll be okay… so just trust me, alright?"

His blue eyes are so serious, so confident that everything will turn out fine. I want to believe him, I really do, but what happens if…?

But Naruto has never let me down, not once. He's always come back alive from his dangerous missions, like he promises me. He might return battered and beaten, but he always has that bright smile on his face and greets me with, "Sakura-chan! I did it, just like I told you I would!"

This is what turns in my mind as I stare back at him, chewing my lip. Naruto is my best friend, my brother – and he's right. He'll fix everything. I nod and he hugs me. The Kneazle yowls in protest, but I shush it; I'm too busy thinking about the things that might happen. It's alright, though, because just like Naruto says, everything will fall into place… eventually.


End file.
